Playing Family
by clementine-rose
Summary: For a mutant family raising a human child, there was never going to be a dull moment. The sequel to Playing Daddy told in oneshot form.
1. Six Years Old

So, I've been gone for a long time! At least in the sense of writing fics because I've definitely been reading them by the bucketload. Basically, real life got in the way is all I can say. I've still got tons of ideas and I've still been writing, both fanfiction and my own original work, and I hope to find the time to share some of my work on this site again. For those of you who have read my previous fics, I am in the process of reworking the first few chapters of my story 'Justification Of The Heart' which will be coming soon as I've been dying to actually get stuck into it again and get rid of all the ideas that have been flying around in my head for too long, so keep an eye out for that one. :) In terms of what I'm doing here, this will be a series of oneshots that will make up the sequel, for lack of a better description, to Playing Daddy which I strongly suggest you do read if you haven't done so already so that these stories make sense. It's been four years since I finished Playing Daddy and even though reading back over it makes me cringe in some places, I'm still very proud of it and couldn't resist writing about what happened afterwards.

There won't be any particular order to the oneshots in terms of posting, but there will be a chronological order in terms of the age in which Cleo is in each one. I might do several pieces for one age, or just one for another etc but I have three written already and hope to do more shortly. Regarding the age of the turtles, they were just coming up for nineteen at the end of Playing Daddy and Cleo was three, and at the end of the epilogue she was six which would make them around twenty two years of age, give or take. I'm still writing these based on the 2k3/2k7 turtles and not the newer incarnations, who are just as awesome but I just felt it would be better to keep it this way for continuity purposes. Plus, I got a lotta love for those guys!

This piece is set just roughly around the time of the epilogue. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing that comes from the TMNT universe.

* * *

><p>Raphael breathed heavily as he stepped away from his punch bag, shoulders heaving and sweat pouring from every possible place. He seized the nearby towel from the floor and rubbed it vigorously across his face before hanging it around the back of his neck and taking a swig from his water bottle. The sound of the front door opening echoed from outside the dojo captured his attention.<p>

''Hey, ladies!'' Mikey's voice crooned. ''How's it goi-ooo, are you sick?''

Raph hurried to the doorway, stepping out into the main area of the lair to see April standing by the main entrance, a ghostly pale Cleo standing next to her. April caught sight of him first and smiled gently.

''The school called me. Cleo started feeling unwell in her first class this morning and, well, had a bit of an accident of the throwing up variety…I don't think she's got flu, just a really terrible cold so she'll be feeling pretty awful for a while.'' She gently stroked Cleo's tousled brown curls as the little girl leaned tiredly against her leg.

''Argh, germs!'' Mikey, ever the dramatic, had fled into Donnie's lab and reappeared wearing a pair of overalls and a surgical face mask, clutching antibacterial spray in each hand. He proceeded to spray furiously, filling the air with a gagging disinfectant odour. ''Die, you gross little beings! You shall infect no more!''

Raph rolled his eyes before launching his sweat soaked towel directly into Mikey's face. The younger turtle immediately began to scream hysterically and flail his arms wildly, inadvertently dousing himself in the antibacterial spray as he stumbled around blindly. ''Auugghhh, why would you do that?!''

''Take a day off, Mikey, for Christ sake…''Raph snapped before turning his attention to Cleo who, unlike a giggling April, had remained quiet during Mikey's latest episode of eccentricity. ''April, I…erm…I don't know what to do here.''

April blinked at him. ''What do you mean? You guys have all been sick before, remember the time all four of you had that sickness bug and Splinter and I spent four days playing nurse maid?''

Raphael shuddered, the memory still too vivid. ''Don't remind me, I still feel weird whenever I see a white plastic bucket…I meant…ah, you know I'm useless as this sorta thing!'' He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. ''Is there anythin' important I should know? Like, do I hafta take her temperature every two hours or somethin' like that?''

April let out a light laugh. ''Raph, she just needs you to be there. Obviously monitor her and make sure she doesn't get any worse but just do what you can. You know, keep her warm, make sure she drinks plenty of fluids, get her to have a nap, things like that.''

Raphael's face still remained a picture of worry and apprehension, his stance stiff and alert as though he was ready to run at any second. April sighed and fixed him with a glare. ''Raphael, she's your little girl and she's pretty sick right now, so just be there for her, use your best judgement and you'll do a great job, okay?''

Raph straightened up and nodded valiantly. ''Yeah, you're right. Okay…'' He knelt down and scooped up the sick little six year old as she shuffled towards him for a cuddle. Her skin was exceptionally warm and he could hear the rattle at the back of her throat as he held her close, nuzzling his snout against her damp hair. April smiled softly at the sight of them, resting her hand on the slightly swollen bump that currently resembled her stomach. Raph caught the movement and smirked. ''Makin' ya broody, are we?''

April snorted and rolled her eyes. ''Shut up, idiot. If you like, I can pick up some medicine and stuff for you.''

Raph frowned. ''Are you sure? You know we don't like askin' you to do stuff like that for us, 'specially at the moment with your…erm…''

April raised an eyebrow. ''My what? My condition?''

Raph sighed loudly. ''Oh, stop tryin' to make me feel awkward, woman! I'm just lookin' out for you, that's all! You shouldn't be carryin' stuff or doin' heavy liftin' or whatever else pregnant ladies shouldn't do.''

''Has Casey been reading you those parenting books I gave to him?''

''Yeah an' he don't shut up 'bout it half the time. I'm pretty sure I could deliver a damn baby with all the stuff I know 'bout it!''

April opened her mouth to offer a smart reply but they were both distracted by a sudden bout of harsh coughing from Cleo. Raphael patted her back gently as she wheezed into his shoulders, blinking watery eyes up at him.

''Okay,'' April said, turning towards the door. ''I'll go and pick up some things for you and I'll send them over with Donnie when he, Leo and Splinter get back from the farmhouse with Casey later, okay?''

''Sure, thanks. Oh, and hey,'' Raph said loudly over the sound of the main door opening, ''d'ya think it would be cool for Splinter to spend the night with you and Casey? I don't know if it's a good idea to expose him to this kinda thing so soon after gettin' over that chest infection he had recently.''

''That's probably a good idea, I'll suggest that to them when they get back.'' She blew a kiss to Cleo who waved back miserably. ''Bye, honey. I'll come see you tomorrow, okay?''

''Bye, Auntie April,'' Cleo rasped, her voice faint.

''What, no kiss for me?'' Raph quipped as April stepped out of the lair. She puckered her lips at him and made a loud kissing noise before disappearing into the sewers. Raph snorted, grateful to have such a good friend like her, before turning his attention to the little girl in his arms.

''Okay, kiddo. What do ya say to your favourite pyjamas, a big blanket and watchin' a movie on the couch?''

''I just wanna sleep.''

Raph winced in sympathy at her pathetic sounding voice and rocked her gently in his embrace. ''Okay, let's get you into bed, huh?''

As they journeyed up into the higher level of the lair towards Cleo's bedroom, there was a loud crash and Mikey stumbled out of the nearby bathroom and toppled to the floor, the face mask now looped over one eye like a ridiculous patch. Raph peered questioningly down at him, noticing the water that clung to his brother's skin in little droplets.

''Did you actually shower an' then put that damn mask back on?''

Mikey's one visible eye glared weakly at him. ''My healthy defences have been breached, I'm not taking any chances. I can't believe you chucked your gross, sweaty towel in my face, bro! So not cool!'' He stuck his tongue out and gagged loudly. ''I can't get the smell outta my nose!''

Before Raph could respond, Cleo began to frantically wriggle in his arms and he quickly lowered her to the ground, unable to even ask what was wrong before she was in the bathroom with her head in the toilet, vomiting loudly. Mikey rose up into a sitting position and watched her sadly. ''Poor little kid, that can't be fun.''

''Don't just sit there, knucklehead. Go an' make up a bed for her on the couch while I sort her out.''

Mikey flipped his hand in a mock salute before slipping the face mask back down over his mouth. Raphael fought the urge to ping it against his little brother's face as he scurried away before entering the bathroom, retrieving a cloth from the cupboard under the sink and wetting it down. Cleo moaned softly and sat back from the toilet in quite a dishevelled state although thankfully, Raph thought, she'd had the good sense to keep her hair out of the firing line. He knelt next to her and gently wiped the cloth across her forehead and around her mouth before chucking it into the nearby laundry hamper.

''Better?''

She only shrugged half-heartedly and Raph nodded as though that was a valid answer.

''Think you're done for now?''

Cleo opened her mouth to respond but the words seemed to halt on her tongue and her face turned, if possible, even more pale. Raph barely managed to move out of the way before she buried herself in the toilet once more. He sighed gently as he moved to sit beside her, rubbing her back gently.

They were in for a long day.

* * *

><p>Raphael raised his head to look over the side of the couch as the door to the lair opened and Leonardo and Donatello entered the main area adorned with several shopping bags.<p>

''Hey. Splinter stayin' at April and Casey's?''

''Yeah, although it took a lot of convincing before he agreed.'' Leonardo said as they headed into the kitchen and started to unpack the bags. ''How's our little lady doing?'' He surveyed the table that sat in the middle of the living room area and noticed the layer of used and unused tissues that covered it along with a pink bucket on the floor nearby. ''Not good?''

Raph glanced over at the slumbering child at the other end of the couch. Only the top of her head and the tip of a sock covered foot were visible under a pile of blankets that rose and fell gently with each snuffling breath that she took. ''She's been asleep for 'bout an hour, I think. Didn't stop throwin' up for ages.''

Donatello looked up from his perusal of two different boxes of medicine. ''Has she been drinking enough?''

Raph shrugged. ''Whatever she got down she just hurled back up again.''

Donnie frowned and scratched his face. ''Well, guess we'll just have to try again when she wakes up.''

''Where's Mikey?'' Leo asked from behind the refrigerator door as he placed some items inside which included a large number of the orange juice boxes that Cleo loved and two six packs of beer. Raphael sent out a mental thank you to April, the woman was an absolute saint. He assumed that the beer would be for when Cleo was on the mend and didn't need him at any possible moment…or to help him become subdued enough to not try and bash Michelangelo over the head too often until that moment arrived. Raph shrugged in reply and turned his attention back to the crime documentary he had been watching for the past half hour. Then, as if simply mentioning his name held a mystic summoning power, Mikey hurtled down the stairs into the living room, still wearing the overalls and face mask.

''Are those my overalls?'' Donnie asked, lowering the medicine boxes to stare at Mikey. ''And where did you find the masks? I spent ages finding a hiding place for them so you'd stop stealing them!''

Mikey let out a snort of derision from behind the mask. ''Please! If I can find Raph's stash of dirty magazines every time he moves them to a new hiding place, I can find anything!''

Raphael hurled a pillow in Mikey's direction which the youngest turtle dodged deftly. Leonardo rolled his eyes at the pair of them. ''I think the bigger question here is why are you wearing Donnie's overalls and a face mask?''

''Uh, because I don't wanna get infected!'' Mikey said, like it was an obvious answer. He gestured at the slumbering girl on the couch. ''One little sneeze or cough from her releases, like, a gazillion drops of cold germiness into the air and if one of those drops gets on you, BAM!'' He whirled his arms dramatically in the air, his shout causing the three other turtles to jump just a little. ''Before you know it, you're infected and spending the next week with your head buried in the toilet and drowning in tissues!''

''Oh, would ya shut up!'' Raph snarled, rising up into a full sitting position to project his deathly glare onto Mikey. ''If you don't knock it off, it won't be catchin' Cleo's cold that makes you bedridden for a week, trust me!''

''Alright,'' Leo held up his hands in a pacifying manner. ''Let's not resort to unnecessary violence here.''

''Well, tell him to stop pissin' me off!''

''I'm pissing you off?! You know, it wouldn't kill you to practice more hygiene rituals, Raph. Then, maybe, you wouldn't have to deal with your little girl getting sick!''

''Actually, Cleo could have picked up the virus from any number of initial hosts,'' Donnie explained eagerly. ''It's quite fascinating how it works because-''

''Hygiene! Are you serious?!'' Raph exclaimed, leaping off the couch and marching over to Mikey who quickly scurried into the kitchen. ''You're the one who hoards pizza boxes an' god knows what else in that shithole you call a bedroom!''

''Guys, just-Mikey, let go!'' Leo snapped, squirming out of Mikey's grip as the orange-banded turtle attempted to use him as a shield. ''Just calm down, you're both being stupid!''

''As long we all maintain a decent level of cleanliness and common sense which means no sharing of things that Cleo has been using and such,'' Donnie said loudly as he scooted away from Mikey's grasping hands, ''we should have a relatively low chance of becoming infected.''

''You hear that, bro?'' Mikey teased, pushing Donnie into Raph's path and hopping over the table. ''Better start washing your hands after you pee!''

Raph snarled with anger and dove at Mikey, unintentionally sending Donnie flying into the table as he did so, missing the younger turtle by an inch as Mikey skipped out of reach.

''Would you two knock it off?''

''Guys, this is just-OW! Mikey!''

''Sorry, bro! It's Raph, he-ahh! Let go, that hu-oww!''

''Raphael! Release him, now! Donnie, get his arms.''

''Back off, Braniac or you'll get the same!''

''Hey, don't drag me into this! I'm only trying to-''

''OWWWW!''

''Can you both stop acting like a pair of childish morons?!''

''He started it!''

''ME?! You're the little shit that-''

''Daddy?''

The shouting and squawking echoing around the lair came to an immediate stop as the four brothers froze on the spot, grappled together in an awkward bundle, and looked over to the couch where a pair of bleary eyes peered over at them. Raphael immediately relinquished the hold he had on Mikey's neck and bandana tails, shook himself free and hurried over to Cleo. He ran a hand quickly over her forehead and into her hair while studying her pale face.

''How you feelin', kid?''

Cleo shook her head, tears shining in her eyes. ''I feel really lousy.'' She moaned quietly, lifting her arms up to him. Raph immediately swept her up, blanket included, and sank back into the couch with her curled up in his arms. He flinched as she released a series of heavy, wet coughs into the cuff of her pyjama sleeve before snuffling against his neck. ''My throat really hurts.''

''I know, squirt,'' Raph murmured, resting his cheek against her warm hair. ''You want one of your juice boxes?''

She nodded against him and moments later, a juice box appeared in front of them, straw already prepared. ''Here,'' Leo said gently, handing it to Cleo who smiled weakly at him in response before taking a slow slurp through the straw. After a moment, she winced and thrust the box away as though it had severely offended her. ''It hurts!''

''I know but you need to drink lots of fluids.'' Leonardo explained softly. ''Tell you what, you drink that whole juice box and another one with dinner and you can have ice cream later. Deal?''

Cleo mumbled something in response and buried her face back into Raphael's neck, bouncing slightly as Raph chuckled.

''What did she say?'' Leo asked.

''She said dinner better be worth it.''

''Don't you worry about that, little dudette!'' Mikey called from the kitchen, fixing his trusty stained apron on over his overalls. ''Uncle Mikey is gonna fix you up some homemade soup and have you feeling better before you know it!''

Donatello grabbed a small spoon and came to stand beside Leo, pouring a measure of pink liquid from a brown bottle. ''Okay, little lady. Open wide.''

''No!'' Cleo said, wriggling further under her blanket. ''I don't want it.''

''It'll help make you feel better.''

''It's gross!''

Donnie held the spoon out patiently, his arm completely steady. Raph shifted in his spot and lifted Cleo up into a sitting position, holding out a hand for the spoon which Donnie quickly handed to him. He and Leo watched with fascination as Raph moved the spoon closer to Cleo's firmly closed mouth.

''C'mon, squirt, one gulp an' it's all done.''

Cleo looked back at him, her expression one of tiredness and reluctance. Raphael studied the flushed redness of her cheeks and nose, the peaky nature of her face and the light of fever in her eyes and adopted his most serious expression, the one he knew that even Mikey had the good sense to respect. He hated making her do things she really didn't want to, hated being the bad guy but when it was for her own good, he knew he had no other choice.

''Open up, kid. I'm not askin','' He said firmly.

Cleo sniffed loudly and slowly eased her mouth open, allowing Raph to tip the pink medicine inside. She swallowed and immediately stuck her tongue out in disgust. Leo wordlessly handed her the previously rejected juice box and she proceeded to frantically suck on the straw. Donatello chuckled as Raph handed him back the spoon, smiling smugly.

''You're good, I'll give you that,'' Leo said, clearly impressed.

''Damn right I am.'' He looked at Cleo as she finished her juice. ''Okay, baby girl, what'll it be, princesses or monsters?''

''Mm…Aliens?''

''Any ones in particular?''

''Nooo,'' She drawled as though he was an idiot. ''The movie!''

''Gotcha.''

''You really shouldn't let her watch those movies, you know. I'm amazed she doesn't get nightmares from them.'' Leo reprimanded Raph as he rose from the couch, making sure to tuck the blanket around Cleo before heading over to the mountainous DVD collection that sat beside the television. Despite Michelangelo's usually chaotic nature, evidenced by the banging, crashing and Donatello's annoyed voice coming from the kitchen, he was surprisingly meticulous about keeping the films in alphabetical order. Raphael, when he was seeking revenge for something, liked to move one or two and place them somewhere different and not tell Mikey. It was a long time to wait for the satisfaction that it delivered but it was usually worth it.

''Leo, she's had nightmares 'bout stuff that actually happened to her in real life an she got over 'em, so lettin' her watch a movie that has some nasty bugs tryin' to kill people in space ain't exactly gonna screw her up.'' Raph huffed, running his hand down the first stack to locate the film.

Leo raised an eye ridge. ''That's actually a good point.''

Raph frowned at him as he located the movie and moved to the television to set it up. ''She's my kid, Leo. If I really thought this stuff was gonna damage her, I wouldn't let her watch it.''

Leo nodded. ''Yeah, I know that. I guess I'm still just surprised by you and her, that's all.''

Raph looked at him silently before they both turned to look at the now sleepy looking six year old curled up on the couch. ''I'm still amazed by her,'' Raph said, his voice soft like it usually was whenever he spoke about Cleo. ''She's just…''

Leo smiled at the tender expression on his brother's face. ''She really is.''

The two brothers shared a look, one of mutual understanding and respect that was so rare that even they knew that it was something to be treasured whenever they occurred. Of course, compared to how they used to be, they definitely had a much less turbulent relationship but that didn't mean they still weren't the same people who still clashed and fought and wound each other up the wrong way on a regular basis, but now it was something they could both get over without holding it against each other. The sound of the movie menu starting up behind them broke the moment and Raphael flashed his brother a small, almost shy smile as he returned to the couch, lifting Cleo up and nestling himself into the cushions before allowing her to cuddle up to him. Leonardo smiled; seeing them together was a sight that never failed to warm his heart.

''Uncle Leo, you're blocking the screen,'' Cleo croaked.

''Sorry,'' Leo murmured with a grin and moved to join Donatello at the kitchen table. ''What are you doing?''

Donatello motioned towards Mikey who was standing at the counter with his headphones in, chopping and dicing vegetables with a ferocious speed and hurling them into a big pot on the stove that was already bubbling and releasing delicious smells. ''I just don't know how he does it.''

Leo frowned questioningly. ''What are you talking about? All those incredible experiments and machines you create and you're impressed with Mikey cutting up vegetables?''

Donnie shook his head. ''That's what I mean. What he does when he makes all those fantastic meals for us is essentially science, it involves mixing things together in a correct manner to create the desirable outcome.''

''So, what's your point?''

''My point,'' Donnie said in slow exasperation. ''is that it absolutely confounds me as to why he's utterly useless at anything remotely scientific that doesn't involve sci fi and I can't even heat up a can of soup without burning it. We should both be able to adapt to these things with ease because they are so fundamentally similar, yet they may as well be two completely different things to us.''

Leo sat down beside him. ''Did you ever consider that it might be your passions for these things that determine how easily you do them?''

Donnie lifted his hands up in surrender. ''It must be that because I honestly can't think of any kind of real explanation for it.'' He was quiet for a moment. ''Either that or he's some sort of alien.''

Leo's eyes slowly moved to lock in on the back of Mikey's bopping head. ''It would explain all his knowledge about space and extra-terrestrials and such things…'' He said, the side of his mouth twitching slightly.

Donnie nodded. ''I have always thought he was from a different planet.''

''But if Mikey is from outer space…where does that leave us?''

As the two brothers debated the origins of the youngest turtle, Raphael was suddenly subjected to a particularly messy bout of sneezing that took both he and Cleo by surprise. The young girl looked pitifully up at him over the top of her hands that were cupped against her face, mortified at the mucus that was plastered over the upper part of Raphael's plastron. Tears immediately filled her eyes and Raph was torn between comforting her and finding something to clean himself with.

''It's okay, kid, it's okay, just an accident, okay?''

Cleo nodded, unable to remove her hands from around her nose. Raph quickly reached over to the table and seized a handful of tissues, handing some to Cleo and using the rest to wipe away the gunk that clung horribly to him. A wet cloth suddenly sailed into his face which he immediately snatched away and glared over into the vicinity of the kitchen, receiving nothing but innocent looks in return. He rubbed the cloth over his skin before bending down and using the other side to clean Cleo's face. She wrinkled her nose at him but allowed him to finish.

''Not a baby, Daddy.''

''Sure ya are,'' He teased, throwing the cloth into the bucket along with the dirty tissues. ''You're my baby an' that means I get to deal with all your gross stuff an' in exchange you have to look after me when I'm old.''

Cleo giggled. ''Even when you're old you'll still be the best ninja ever.''

Raphael laughed gruffly, grabbing the remote to skip the movie back a scene. ''You'd better believe it.''

* * *

><p>Raphael had a vivid memory of the sickness bug that had reduced he and his brothers to absolute wrecks, and it was of April pressing a cold cloth to his burning forehead and wincing in sympathy as she informed him that he would probably get worse before he got better. He was reminded of this particular moment as Cleo coughed and sneezed into the night without any sign of letting up. She ate the soup that Mikey made for her before bursting into tears, more out of tiredness than anything else, Donnie had explained, over the fact that she could barely taste anything because her nose was so stuffed up. Raphael had put her to bed, way later than normal, with a hot water bottle and a giant pitcher of water beside her bed but after spending two hours listening to her continuously wheezing and spluttering, he bundled her up in her blanket and returned to the couch, deciding that if neither of them were going to get any sleep they may as well do something interesting instead. Amazingly, it seemed to have the opposite effect on Cleo as she fell asleep, albeit a fitful and disrupted sleep, but asleep nonetheless fairly quickly and Raphael spent the remainder of the early hours watching trashy television before finally dozing in the eerie blue glow of the screen.<p>

He became aware of somebody faintly calling his name before he jerked awake as a hand touched his arm.

''Easy, it's just me.''

''April, hey…'' He rubbed his eyes. ''What time is it?''

''Early. I didn't expect any of you to be awake, I just wanted to drop off a few more things before I went to work.''

Raph followed her gaze to where Cleo lay on the sofa, breathing heavily under the blanket. ''I take it you guys had a rough night?''

''Yeah, you could say that.'' Raph murmured, fidgeting into a more comfy position. ''Poor kid.''

''Poor you,'' April said, patting his arm supportively. ''I've got some more juice boxes and ice lollies because I'm going to assume that Mikey has already devoured the rest.''

''More than likely.''

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and listened to April pottering around in the kitchen, wincing as he felt the oncoming pounding of a headache. Movement by his feet alerted him to the presence of a now awake Cleo as she crawled up towards him, curling into the small space between him and the cushions. He smiled to himself as she made sure to cover him with the blanket before settling down, sniffing loudly. He tucked an arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.

''You okay?''

''Mm, kinda cold…''

Raph hummed lazily. ''Usin' me for heat, huh? You're one sneaky kid.''

A sleepy giggle was his response. He felt April pass by them and cracked open an eye to look at her. ''You goin' already?''

April laughed. ''You look like you've got everything under control. Just don't come crying to me when you get sick because I'm willing to bet a lot that you will.''

Raphael closed his eyes and gave Cleo another squeeze. ''It'll be worth it.''

A week later, Cleo was back to her bright and bouncy self. April, having stopped by for dinner as Casey was working late, studied the pile of covers and tissues that currently represented Raphael and smiled wryly. ''So, do you still think it was worth it?''

Raph sneezed violently and watched with red, puffy eyes as Cleo eagerly hurried forward to hand him a tissue and check his temperature for the hundredth time. He flashed a rare smile full of softness at April, recalling the last few days that had been spent watching movies, eating ice cream and, more importantly, taking care of his little girl.

''Hell yeah.''

* * *

><p>I apologise for any mistakes, I did go over it again and again but I can imagine some things still got through so I'm sorry for any errors present. Any reviews or comments are greatly appreciated. As I said, it's been a long time but I'm so glad to be writing in the TMNT universe again, I've missed these guys ridiculous amounts, to the point where it actually hurts when I remind myself that they aren't real...goddamnit!<p>

Until next time!


	2. Four Years Old

**Hey, again! So, there has been an insane amount of traffic on this story and my previous one which is beyond awesome, but nobody has actually let me know what they think which kinda sucks...Big thanks to the few who faved and followed but I wanna hear your thoughts, people! Any ideas you might have, comments or just general thoughts would all be great to see! **

**So, this next installment started off as a silly little Halloween inspired thing but it kinda ran away with me. I did try to install some creepy and spooky undertones in part but I suck at writing spooky or creepy so do forgive me for that. There's also some feels thrown in for good mix too! I'm being completely honest when I say some of this is based on true events, mainly based on me and my older brothers who are just over a decade older than me...so you can imagine the things that we used to get up to. Basically, stay yer course, maties, for there be fluffiness and silly things ahead! Enjoy! **

**Age wise, Cleo is four so the turtles are only a few months into being twenty, no longer teenagers! **

**Disclaimer: Anything familiar/famous/turtle related does not belong to me, unfortunately! **

* * *

><p>''I'm tellin' ya, she's definitely been sleepin' with his brother!''<p>

''Pfft, no way! She's about to tell him that she's secretly a man and now wants to leave him for his sister!''

''Where the hell did you get that idea?!''

''It's obvious! She's got a huge Adam's apple and that's definitely stubble under her jaw!''

''Well, explain how she's managed to keep her junk hidden from him.''

''I don't know…maybe she's just really good at hiding it?''

''Oh, c'mon, Braniac! I'm definitely goin' with sleepin' with the brother AND pregnant but she doesn't know which one is the father!''

Raphael and Donatello watched silently as the ridiculous scene played out on the screen. There was a loud roar from the audience and Donatello's jaw dropped while Raph pumped the air with his fist in triumph.

''Haha! Told ya!''

''I…just-you...she must be the most unattractive woman to ever appear on this show!''

''Trust me, there's always uglier.''

''Ugh,'' Donatello sat back in his chair in disgust. ''I can't believe you made me watch this idiotic crap.''

''You love it.'' Raph insisted as he flipped open his phone to look at the time. ''I knew I should have gone to get Cleo myself, Mikey's probably lettin' her use his skateboard in the sewers again.''

''After the beating you gave him last time?'' Donatello quipped. ''Not likely!''

Before Raphael could reply, the front door opened with a mechanical whir and Mikey and Cleo bounded into the lair.

''Daddy, Daddy!'' The four year old cried excitedly as she hurtled towards Raphael, her curly brown hair bouncing wildly around her freckled face. Raph grinned and bent down to seize her under the arms and whirl her through the air. ''Hey, squirt! How was your day?''

''Really good! We read this book about this little old lady who isn't afraid of anything and it had lots of cool pictures of pumpkins and stuff!''

''Oh, yeah?'' Raph said, planting a kiss on her hair and setting her on the floor to help remove her little red coat.

''Yeah. I liked the pictures a bit more than the story cos the story was kinda slow, I thought it could have been more exciting.'' She explained as she wriggled her arms free. ''It was still pretty good though, I guess.''

''What else?''

''Miss Moonie wants us all to figure out what we're going to dress up as for Halloween…but I'm not really sure because I've never dressed up as anything for Halloween before.''

Raph paused, holding her coat limply in his hands. She was right, for this time last year they had all still been recovering from the traumatic events that had unfolded the night that they destroyed Karai and The Foot. Having attended a memorial service just two weeks ago to honour those who had fallen in the final battle, Raphael had completely forgotten about the upcoming holiday and that it would be the first time that Cleo would truly get to experience it. His mind drifted back to the moment that they laid a wreath of flowers on Leon's grave, flinching inwardly at the sorrow that still seemed as real as it had been a year ago.

''Dude, we get to teach her about Halloween, how awesome is that?!'' Mikey's voice broke through his dark thoughts.

''What do you mean teach her?'' Donnie asked before Raph could, frowning sceptically at his younger brother. ''All you have to do is put on a costume and get people to give you candy.''

Mikey's face twisted into a mask of disgusted horror. ''That is the mere bare bones of what Halloween is! Halloween is a magical time, a time for ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties to come out and play.'' He wiggled his fingers in Donatello's dumbfounded face. ''It's a time for pranks, elaborate costumes, scary movies, ghost stories around a campfire aaaaaannd candy!'' He spread his arms wide. ''It's almost as good as Christmas!''

Raphael rolled his eyes but upon returning his attention to Cleo, he was met with an expression of wide eyed wonder and excitement. She beamed up at him. ''That sounds so fun! Can we do all those things, Daddy? Please?'' She tugged insistently on his leg. Mikey bounced up from the couch suddenly, practically vibrating with excitement.

''Dudes, we should totally go up to the farmhouse for it! It would be awesome, we could actually build a campfire and tell scary stories and stuff, it would be so badass!''

Donatello's face lit up with amused surprise. ''That's actually not a bad idea, Mikey.''

''I don't know why you sound so surprised! I ALWAYS have good ideas,'' Mikey said defensively.

''Can't go trick or treatin' if we're up there though, there's nobody else around for miles.'' Raph pointed out.

''Good point…although I'm not sure if we could even risk going out in public this year, not now that half of New York recognises us.'' Donnie sighed.

''Why not?!'' Mikey asked, dropping back down beside Donatello. ''We've always gone out on Halloween.''

''Yes, but that was when people didn't know we existed so we could just pretend we were people in extremely detailed costumes. Now, people think we're crime fighting humans inside turtle costumes to protect our identities.''

Mikey blinked. ''So, what's your point?''

Donnie rolled his eyes in exasperation. ''Think about it. If we actually were humans wearing turtle costumes to protect our identities, why would we wear the exact same costumes out on Halloween? It'd be like Bruce Wayne going out trick or treating and wearing his Batman outfit.''

Mikey's face fell. ''So, you're saying we can't go out trick or treating?''

''We couldn't go out trick or treating anyway!'' Donnie exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. ''We're too old!''

Mikey out a pained gasp and clutched a hand to his plastron. ''How dare you!''

''Does that mean we don't get any candy?'' Cleo asked Raphael sadly.

''You still get candy,'' Raph reassured her as he led her into the kitchen to get a drink. ''But Mikey doesn't.''

''We could go in fancy dress!''

''How can we go in fancy dress?!'' Donnie shifted in his spot to glare in frustration at Mikey. ''It would still be pretty clear that we're dressed as turtles!''

Mikey frowned. ''But we're not dressed as turtles…we _are _turtles, dude.''

''I know that!'' Donatello all but screamed, making Cleo jump slightly and nearly spill her juice over herself. ''I'm speaking in terms of what other people will be thinking!''

''Okay so we really dress up! We can go as, like, vampire turtles or mutated ghosts or something! We could wear capes to cover our shells, do some insane face painting, get some fangs and fake blood going on…'' He looked pleadingly at Donnie's frowning face before turning his big eyes onto Raphael. ''C'mon, it'll be soooo much fun!''

Raph laughed dryly. ''You seriously expect me to let you put face paint on me? Not in a million years, bro.''

Mikey's face twisted in a disturbingly evil grin. ''Cleo, do you want your dad to dress up with you and take you trick or treating?''

Cleo nodded emphatically, turning a big smile up in Raph's direction. ''Yeah!''

Raphael looked murderously at Mikey. ''You're gonna pay for that one, knucklehead.''

''What's he going to pay for?''

Everyone turned to see Leonardo and Splinter emerging from the dojo having just completed their daily mediation together.

''Mikey wants us to go trick or treating and he's playing dirty to get Raph to join in.'' Donnie said, flopping back into the cushions as though exhausted by the whole thing.

Leo raised an eye ridge. ''Aren't we a little old to go trick or treating?''

''When did you guys get so boring?!'' Mikey cried. ''We've always celebrated Halloween!''

Splinter smiled fondly as he lowered himself into a chair at the kitchen table, running a hand over Cleo's head in greeting. ''I remember the very first time you all went trick or treating. I had forbidden it because I felt that it was too dangerous but you decided to sneak out of the lair when my back was turned.'' He laughed softly. ''In the end, you were so astonished by all the other children in their costumes that you forgot to acquire any candy.''

Mikey chuckled. ''Yeah, and Raph spent the night freaking out because we saw some kids dressed as bugs.''

''Hey!'' Raphael shouted defensively. ''I wasn't freakin' out! I was just…I mean, c'mon, that one kid dressed as a moth was pretty damn realistic!''

''Of course it was,'' Leo said in mock sympathy. ''I'm so glad I had to spend that night with you practically wrapped around my head because you were convinced that bugs were coming to get you.''

Splinter placed a warning hand against Raph's midsection as the hot-headed turtle made to advance on his older brother. ''Don't worry, Daddy!'' Cleo said cheerfully. ''I won't dress up as a bug so you won't have to be scared!''

Raph's irritation at Leo's ribbing remark instantly faded at the sweet offer. ''Thanks, squirt.''

''You have to dress up too, though!''

Raph fell back against the sideboard with a disgruntled groan. Mikey gave a shout of delighted victory from the couch, prompting Donatello to shuffle away from his flailing arms. ''Ohhh yeah, this is gonna be so sweet!''

''Can I point something out to you, oh great master of all things weird and annoying?'' Donnie said, his voice laced with sarcasm. ''You've failed to actually resolve the original problem, which is how are you planning to go trick or treating in the city and spend the night up at the farmhouse telling ridiculous stories?''

Mikey, who had opened his mouth to automatically offer a triumphant answer, promptly shut it as he frowned in thought, obviously unaware of the dilemma until now. ''We could…I can…you…erm…''

Donnie patted Mikey's shoulder. ''Don't hurt yourself, Mikey.''

Mikey fidgeted away from him, his face creased up as he frantically tried to think of an idea but quickly gave up, sinking back with a long groan. ''Ohhhh! Why can't we do both?!''

''Well, Halloween is on a Friday this year,'' Leonardo said. ''I suppose you could trick or treat on the night and then spend the rest of the weekend at the farmhouse for all the other things that you wanted to do.''

''But it won't be the same!'' Mikey whined, causing everyone but Cleo, who was too busy snacking on some biscuits that Splinter had given to her, to roll their eyes in irritation.

''Well, you can't do both, Mikey,'' Leo said pointedly. ''So you better choose whichever one seems more appealing.''

''What did we even do the last time we went out on Halloween?'' Donnie asked.

''Casey snuck us into that club, remember?''

''Oh, yeah!'' Donnie smirked. ''Raph got hit on by that woman in the fairy costume who wouldn't leave him alone all night!''

''That broad was crazy!'' Raph said, the memory clearly still fresh in his mind. ''I spent half the night tryin' to hide from her, she kept askin' me if my costume had an easy access point so that she could touch my…ahhh…'' He paused, aware of Splinter and Cleo both looking at him, the former with a most serious and disapproving stare. ''Ya know what, never mind. So, trick or treatin', huh?'' He looked over at a still undecided Mikey. ''The kid's never been before, Mike, so if you wanna take her, that's cool with me.''

Cleo's face fell. ''You're not coming too?''

''Of course he is!'' Mikey answered for Raphael, leaping to his feet. ''I've decided that New York will remain our base of operations this year. We shall teach the ways of Halloween to our young padawan over there,'' He winked at a giggling Cleo, ''and next year we can turn the farmhouse into the ultimate haunted house.''

''A good decision, Mikey.'' Donnie said sagely, failing to hide his amused grin.

Mikey was on a roll, however, and spread his arms wide, a proud grin on his face. ''Lucky for you guys, I have plenty of time to create some wicked costumes and make this place spooky.''

Leonardo looked at him suspiciously. ''What are you planning exactly?''

''If I find anythin' bug like in my hammock, bonehead, there will be hell to pay,'' Raphael warned.

Mikey rubbed his hands together gleefully. ''Wait and see, dudes. It's gonna be awesome!''

* * *

><p>''How do I look?''<p>

Raphael looked her over carefully, keeping his face serious. Truth be told, she looked unbelievably adorable but he knew that wasn't the look she was going for. Before him stood a miniature vampire, complete with a pale and gaunt face, a long dark purple dress with a black cape, putty fangs and fake blood drops down her chin. She had spent a long time deciding on what she wanted to dress up as to mark her first Halloween celebration, jumping back and forth between a Disney princess and a bloodsucking creature of darkness. The deciding factor, Raphael suspected, had been when Mikey had declared that all four brothers would be stepping out as various incarnations of undead beings and the youngest member of the family had been determined not to be left out.

''Daddy?''

''You look…very scary, baby girl.'' He said animatedly, reaching out to straighten her cape slightly. ''For a minute there I almost thought you were a real vampire!''

Cleo wriggled delightedly on the spot, completely destroying any potential scare factor she may have had.

''What about me?''

''You look really, really scary!''

''Sure?''

''Uh huh!''

She took hold of his hand and pulled him over to the large mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door. He surveyed himself, surprisingly impressed with the outcome. Out of all the choices that Mikey had offered them for costumes, Raph had elected to go as a mutated version of Frankenstein's monster as it had involved the least amount of work. He was dressed in a huge black coat that covered him from shoulder to toe, a shaggy black wig and had fake metal bolts sticking out from either side of his neck. He had plastered his green skin with various stick on scars and smudged some black makeup around his eyes and figured that it would be enough to distract from the actual shape of his face. Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't really matter considering the amount of ridiculous costumes they were bound to see. All things considered, he did look pretty impressive, if slightly frightening.

''Not too shabby, huh?''

They grinned at each other.

''C'mon. Let's go see what damage your Uncle Mikey has done to the rest of the place.''

After warily poking his head out into the hallway to make sure that the coast was clear, the two of them headed down to the main area of the lair. Raphael stopped on the staircase and groaned loudly.

''You gotta be kiddin' me.''

''Wow!''

The entire area was strewn with cobwebs, bloody handprints, pumpkins and other Halloween paraphernalia. There was a chalk outline of a dead body drawn on the floor, blood splatters over the kitchen chairs, a large cauldron filled with water and apples; even the living room table had been draped in orange and red tissue paper to resemble a campfire. Fake body parts, plastic bats and ghostly silhouettes dangled from various places while headstones and skeleton bones were littered all over the room. The lightning was dim enough to set a spooky mood, exaggerated by the giant candles that had been placed on any available surface.

''Look, Daddy, isn't this cool?''

''Yeah…'' Raph said slowly as they headed into the kitchen. ''I think Mikey went a bit crazy gettin' into the Halloween spirit.''

''No kidding!'' Donnie mumbled as he stepped out from his lab. He was wrapped completely in bandages smeared with fake blood and the visible skin around his eyes and mouth had been blacked out to disguise his green skin. ''I have to admit, it is really impressive but it is an obscene amount of decoration.'' He looked at Cleo and smiled. ''Wow, you look great.''

''Thanks, Uncle Donnie. I like your costume.''

''Thanks. Leo had to help me with most of it.'' He said. ''It's really hard to actually wrap yourself up all over in bandages.''

''I'll bet. Where is Leo, anyway?'' Raph asked.

''Here,'' Leo's disgruntled voice said from the doorway of Splinter's room. He was draped in a loose shirt and shabby trousers and he was smeared all over in fake blood and slime. His left arm was tucked up under the shirt, giving the impression of a missing limb. ''I can't believe I actually agreed to do this.'' He gestured at them with his remaining arm. ''At least you guys look good, I just look ridiculous.''

''On the contrary, my son,'' Splinter's calm voice filled the room as he appeared beside Leo. ''I think you look very…authentic.''

''That's for damn sure,'' Raphael snorted, opening the fridge to retrieve a beer. ''So, where's the king of Halloween?'' He asked as he popped the top off the bottle with his thumb.

The sound of fanfare being played from a phone rang out from the upper level, drawing them all curiously into the centre of the room. At the sight of the figure standing above them, Cleo grabbed Raphael's hand excitedly. Michelangelo jumped up onto the railing that surrounded the edge of the upper level and pranced along it until he was completely visible from head to toe, and even Raphael had to admit that he was a very spectacular sight to behold. He was dressed in a loose fitting black suit that had the body parts of a skeleton stuck on it, his hands were hidden inside black and white gloves and his entire face and head was covered in white face paint. His features had been cleverly disguised by the detailed make up as it had not only created the illusion of hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, it had completely transformed the shape of his mouth into a very malevolent smile that appeared all the more sinister when he grinned widely at them.

Splinter's ears flattened against his head at the sight of him.

''Mikey…you look…'' Leonardo fumbled for the right word, clearly disturbed by the appearance of his little brother. ''Very…Mikey, you're going to give children nightmares when they see you looking like that.''

Mikey bounced from foot to foot along the rail before jumping down to land in front of them. ''Aw, c'mon, Leo! Don't be jealous because I look absolutely amazingly awesome and you look…well, like a very sad zombie, I gotta say.''

''That's because I didn't want to be a zombie!'' Leo snapped, his shirt puffing up at the front as he attempted to throw both his arms in the air in annoyance. ''I didn't want to go at all but you all ganged up on me and forced me!''

''Chill out, bro! It's supposed to be fun.'' Mikey flashed his creepy grin once again. ''Get into the spirit of the whole thing and you'll have a great time, and probably come across as a much more convincing zombie at the same time.''

Leonardo huffed out a mumbled reply before stalking towards the kitchen for a drink. Mikey chuckled, clearly delighted at having already wound his older brother up before they had even left the lair. He turned to survey Donatello and Raphael and clapped his hands loudly. ''Awesome work, guys! Very spooky! And you,'' He bent down and gave Cleo a tickle under the chin. ''You are definitely the scariest vampire I've ever seen!''

Cleo bared her fake fangs and hissed at him playfully.

''Tonight is gonna be totally wicked! After trick or treating, we've got some classic movies to watch, some scary video games to play, ghost stories to tell, It's gonna be amazing!''

Raph clapped a restraining hand on Mikey's shoulder. ''Easy, Mike. If you get any more hyped up than you are now, Leo will confiscate your candy.''

''You can't seriously be expecting people to give us candy,'' Donnie asked, the bandages around his face rustling as he frowned. ''We're not children, we couldn't even pass for teenagers.''

''We were nineteen not that long ago.''

''Long enough!''

''Nineteen would still be too old!''

''You said we couldn't pass for teenagers but nineteen is a teenager, that's why it ends in 'teen'!''

''It's a bit different being nineteen than it is being a moody and hormonal fifteen year old, Mikey!''

''Then how do you explain Raph?''

''What the hell is that supposed to mean?!''

''None of this is relevant because we're not nineteen!''

''We could be, though.''

''But we're not!''

''That doesn't matter tonight! It's Halloween, anything can happen!''

''Argh! C'mere, Donnie, I wanna use your bandages to wrap his mouth shut!''

''My sons!'' Splinter smacked the bottom of his cane sharply against the floor, immediately creating silence between the four bickering turtles. He smiled tolerantly at them. ''There is a documentary on thay I wish to view whilst you are out collecting candy and I would be most grateful if you could…what is the expression…Ah! Get this show on the road.'' He finished, whiskers twitching in amusement.

His four sons gaped at him for a moment before quickly springing into action.

''Okay, I've got pillow cases for everyone…water balloons-yo, where's the Silly String?''

''I got it here, Uncle Mikey!'' Cleo waggled two cans in his face.

''Thanks, little dudette! Hey, why are you taking the balloons?''

''I'm just looking after them for you,'' Donnie reassured him.

''Like hell you are! Give 'em back!''

As the sound of their squabbling and good natured teasing faded away, Splinter shook his head and smiled fondly to himself. ''Kids.''

* * *

><p>''Thank you!'' Cleo called brightly and hopped down the stairs from the house she had just collected candy from, her painted face alight with happiness.<p>

''Do you think that Master Splinter really thought we believed him when he said that he was going to be watching a documentary?'' Donnie asked Leo as they followed a few paces behind the excited child.

Leo laughed. ''Probably not, he's not exactly subtle about hiding his love for those ridiculous soap operas that he watches.'' His face was alight with amused fondness for their beloved father. ''I think he just wanted to get us out of the lair quickly.''

''This is beyond sweet!'' Mikey chortled loudly from ahead, swinging his already bulging pillowcase over his shoulder.

''Can't imagine why.'' Donnie muttered.

''I have to admit, I'm really impressed with the amount of candy we've managed to gather,'' Leo said, peering into his own pillowcase. ''People have been so generous.''

''I think that might have to do with the fact that we have a very adorable child with us.'' Donnie said as he watched Cleo skip alongside Raphael, chattering away excitedly.

''And that we have these impressive costumes.'' Mikey said proudly, once again displaying his terrifying smile.

''Mikey, you've made four children cry with fright already and we haven't even been out for a full hour yet.''

''Hey, Halloween is about creepy stuff,'' Mikey groused. ''It's not my fault that they couldn't handle a little scare.''

''They were little kids, Mikey!''

Mikey gestured at Cleo. ''She's a little kid and she's not scared.''

''Yes, well, she's definitely the exception to the rule.'' Leo said. ''But some people scare easier than others and you need to be careful or you're going to make someone's parents very angry.''

Mikey pointedly ignored him, hurrying to catch up to Cleo as she knocked at another door. Raph gave a low growl as the younger turtle bumped him out of the way so that he was in front. The door opened to reveal a woman in her twenties dressed in a skimpy witch outfit, complete with a pointed black hat atop her long blonde hair.

''Trick or treat!''

Cleo's sweet voice immediately drew the woman's attention lower down and her face broke out into a pleasant grin.

''Oh, hey, honey! Wow, I love your costume.'' She retrieved a bowl from just inside the door and dropped two large handfuls of candy into Cleo's open pillowcase. ''Are these your friends?'' The woman asked, offering a playful smirk to the four turtles who simply gawked back at her.

''No, they're my uncles and my daddy!''

''Oh, really?'' The woman straightened up. ''Well, you guys have such great costumes I guess I have to give you some candy too!''

''That would be awesome…'' Mikey all but drooled, holding up his awaiting pillowcase.

She quickly deposited a handful of candy in each of their pillowcases. ''I think it's really sweet of you guys to all go trick or treating with this little cutie,'' She winked at Cleo who smiled shyly in return. ''Which one of you is her dad?''

''Erm…me.'' Raphael raised his hand hesitantly. The woman's bright eyes zeroed in on him and almost appeared predatory in the glow of the nearby streetlight.

''I think it's great that you've dressed up with your daughter. I love a man who enjoys an active role in the life of his children.''

''Thanks,'' Raph replied, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly and pointedly ignoring the incredulous look that he was receiving from the others. ''Can't really refuse her much.''

''I'm sure,'' She practically purred. ''Is there a Mrs Frankenstein's Monster helping you raise her?''

''Ah, no, it's…just me,'' Raphael said before jerking his head in a round motion at his brothers. ''And these guys.''

The woman let out a little gasp before placing a hand over the bare skin above her heart. ''Wow, it must be really tough raising her on your own.''

Raph blinked in confusion, having thought they had just established that he wasn't entirely alone in this whole 'raising' business. Before he could form a coherent answer, the woman had stepped forward, slipping easily past a shocked Mikey, and drew up close to him. The saccharine smell of her perfume and the natural heat emanating her skin made Raphael's head swim slightly.

''If you ever feel like you need some adult time, you should stop by one evening,'' She whispered, her lips almost touching his cheek. ''I'd be happy to help relieve you of any pent up tension you might have.''

As she pulled back and fluttered her eyes meaningfully at him, Raph caught the questioning look of his four year old daughter as she watched the interaction. For one mad moment he actually considered going along with the tantalizing offer and exposing himself to this woman for what he really was, but fortunately the stare of his daughter dropped him quickly back into reality. He gritted his teeth and shook his head, knowing full well that even if he was in with a chance, the little girl at his side was more important.

''Somehow, I don't think I'm ya type.'' He held out his hand to Cleo who quickly grasped it. ''Thanks for the candy.''

The woman's face was twisted in insulted disappointment as she watched them descend the stairs back onto the street, all except for Mikey who paused halfway down and flashed her what would have normally appeared as a cheeky grin but seemed threatening under the makeup. ''I'm free most evenings…Maybe I could drop by?''

The woman scoffed and slammed the front door, making Mikey wince before he moved to catch up with the others. ''How the hell could you say no to her, man?!''

''What was he supposed to do? Keep his costume on every time he went round to see her?''

''I can't believe you two are even entertaining the idea that Raph would actually be involved with,'' Leo glanced around before lowering his voice into a hiss, ''with a human!''

''Hey, if April and Casey can accept us, why can't anybody else?''

''April and Casey don't want to proposition any of us for physical relations!'' Donnie whispered loudly.

''Physical relations? Donnie, you're such a prude.'' Mikey sniggered, slapping his older brother mockingly on the shell.

''At least he's realistic.''

''Oh, don't tell me you haven't thought about it too, Leo. You were gawking at her just as much as the rest of us!'' Mikey teased.

As the three brothers quarrelled, Raph and Cleo walked up ahead together, a strange silence hanging over them. Raph looked down at his small companion, taking in the serious look on her face, and sighed. ''Listen, squirt…about what happened back there-''

''Did that lady want to be your girlfriend?''

He raised an eye ridge. ''How do you know about that sort of stuff?''

''I saw it on tv. It's what you are before you get married, like Auntie April and Uncle Casey used to be, right?''

''Yeah, that's about right.''

''So, are you going to be her boyfriend?'' She asked.

''No, I'm not.'' He replied, reaching down to take her pillowcase from her to hold with his own. ''Remember, I'm a bit different than you so I don't think I'll be gettin' a girlfriend anytime soon, kid.''

''I don't think you're that different,'' She said softly before lifting her head to smile at him. ''I forget sometimes that you are.''

His heart suddenly became lodged in his throat and he stumbled slightly, completely caught out by her words. ''Y-you do?''

''Yeah,'' She replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. ''I know you are but…I still forget. Can we do some more trick or treating?''

Raph smiled at the quick change of her attention. She was such a naturally accepting and kind child that it wouldn't even cross her mind that what she said had such a profound effect on him. In a lot of ways she was a very typical child and he felt that he knew her so well but, even after everything that they had been through together, she still found ways to surprise him. With a playful growl, he bent down and used his free arm to grab her and swing her up to his shoulders.

''So, let's go to a few more houses and then go home and tell some spooky stories, huh?''

''Yay!''

From behind them, Michelangelo let out a pathetic moan. ''What do you mean keeping the lights turned off doesn't count?!''

* * *

><p>''And then, Marie felt a gust of cold icy breath against her neck, making her freeze on the spot. She turned, slowly, slowly, to look behind her, seeing nothing but the old bedroom mirror…''<p>

Mikey's face, even eerier by the light coming from the candle he held near his face, was unusually serious as he lowered his voice to a soft whisper.

''The old bedroom mirror that had been there for so many years, innocently standing there, nothing unusual about it all. Except, Marie could now see something on the other side of the glass…something strange and pale…and it was somehow getting closer…and closer…''

Knowing his audience was completely enraptured, Mikey went in for the kill.

''Marie looked closely at the glass as the thing drew closer until it seemed to be almost touching the glass on the other side of the mirror. She could make out the edges of what appeared to be a person, a familiar person, somebody she had seen before…Marie placed a hand on the glass just as the shape on the other side did…'' Mikey grinned wickedly at them. ''Before she could react, scream or shout, the shape inside the mirror morphed into a very recognisable image, and Marie found that she was staring at…HERSELF! Mwahahaha!''

Cleo jumped as he shouted, her nails digging into Leo's arm as she wobbled on his lap slightly. The elder turtle rolled his eyes at his younger brother's antics. Donnie, on the other side, could only palm his head in frustration.

''Mikey, that was the worst ending to a ghost story. Of course she would see herself in the mirror…It's a mirror!''

''No, it was meant to be her evil doppelganger. Get it?'' Upon receiving nothing but blank looks, Mikey flailed his arms to emphasise his point. ''You know, like that theory that a mirror actually holds the evil side of your personality inside it?''

''How the hell would you know, knucklehead?'' Raph reached round and flicked Mikey on the shoulder. ''When was the last time you even looked in a mirror?''

''That isn't true is it, Uncle Leo?'' Cleo asked warily, peering up at her uncle. Leo shook his head and smiled as he stroked her back soothingly.

''Of course not, little one. There's nothing bad in your mirror.'' He flashed a dangerous look at Raphael. ''I told you that she should have gone to bed before we started telling stories.''

Raph popped a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth, his face impassive. ''Hey, you used to tell us that scary story so we wouldn't get out of bed in the middle of the night.''

''That was only when Splinter was out scavenging food for us, it was something he said I was allowed to do so that you would all behave,'' Leo said defensively.

''It worked,'' Donnie said, a nostalgic look on his face. ''I had nightmares for days every time you told us that story.''

''No kidding,'' Mikey agreed, loudly opening a lollipop and shoving it in his mouth.

''What story?'' Cleo asked, eagerly tugging on Leo's arm, now free from the confines of his shirt which had been long discarded.

''Oh, no!'' Leo gently reprimanded, lifting her off his lap to hand her to Raphael. ''This one is way too scary for you.''

''Please? Daddy?'' She pouted her lips at the red-banded turtle who looked at her, torn between doing the responsible parent thing and accepting the consequences of allowing her to stay and listen.

''I don't know, squirt. This story even scared me an' we were older than you are now.''

''Not that you would ever admit to that when we were kids.'' Donnie pointed out, earning himself a glare.

''I won't get scared, I promise!'' Under Raphael's doubtful gaze, she grew even more defiant. ''I'll sleep in my own room and everything, even if I do!''

Raphael looked to his brothers for help. Donatello scratched the side of his face in thought before shrugging. Leo's face was a mask of disapproval under his now smeared zombie makeup and Raphael struggled to beat down the instinctive urge to do something just to annoy his older brother. Mikey, however, returned his unsure look with an encouraging grin before crunching into his lollipop.

''I vote yes! Being scared is part of being a kid, dude.''

''Yeah but I don't think actually scaring children on purpose is classed as good parenting.'' Donnie remarked, prompting Mikey to roll his eyes.

''Were we not just talking about how Master Splinter used to let Leo tell us scary stories to make us behave?''

''That's different. That was to ensure our safety when he wasn't around.''

''Whatever, dude.'' Mikey said, rolling the lollipop stick around with his tongue. ''Hey, why don't we ask him to tell us the story?''

''He's reading in his room and we shouldn't disturb him,'' Leo looked at all of them before shaking his head in defeat, ''so if I'm going to tell this thing then you all have to promise to keep it down.''

Raphael cast one last look of uncertainty down Cleo before he nodded in agreement.

''Sweet!'' Mikey crowed, scrambling up to retrieve more snacks from the kitchen. Cleo quickly rummaged in her pillowcase and pulled out an assortment of candy as Mikey hurried back over to them, clutching numerous bowls of confectionary and cans of drink. Once everybody was settled upon the chairs and couch Leo, who was sat alone on one of the recliners, cleared his throat.

''Have you ever-''

''WAIT!''

''SHHHH!'' Donnie hissed immediately in Mikey's face.

''What, Mikey?'' Leo asked, his voice dangerously calm.

''You need the candle.'' Mikey informed him, holding out the giant candle that he had been using to illuminate his face when he had been telling his own story.

''Oh, what, we can't tell a story without the damn candle?'' Raphael snapped, reaching over to smack his baby brother on the back of the head. ''Get on with it, Fearless.''

Leo reluctantly retrieved the burning candle and held it a small distance away from himself, his face morphing into something distinctly more ominous as the flame illuminated him.

''Have you ever heard the sounds of the sewer at night?'' He began, his voice low and foreboding. ''The dripping of pipes, the rush of traffic up above, the echo of voices from the grates…these are all things that you are used to, you know the sounds off by heart, so accustomed to them that you barely notice them anymore, right?''

Against his better judgement, Raphael found himself nodding along with everyone else.

''That's how he moves around. He uses those familiar sounds to his advantage, knowing that before you truly notice that something is different, it will be too late.''

Raph heard Cleo swallow a piece of candy loudly. ''Who?'' She asked, her voice full of both curiosity and trepidation.

''The Sewer Stalker.''

Donnie didn't even roll his eyes as Mikey shuffled closer to him, instead he leaned subconsciously into his younger brother, completely focused on Leonardo's face.

''You see, the tunnels of the sewers have places where they connect to the subway tunnels and that's where he comes from. Originally preying on the innocent passengers of the trains, he realised that it would be easier, and much more fun, to seek out those who dwelled further underground…in places where nobody would be able to hear the screams.''

''But…nobody else lives underground but us.'' Mikey said, completely enraptured as though he had never heard the story before. Leo's face suddenly morphed into a twisted grin.

''Exactly.''

He leaned closer to them and everybody else automatically copied his movements, eyes wide with anticipation.

''He travelled down from the subway tunnels, winding his way down to the sewers, hungry for something different. Slowly he made his way through the network of passages, searching for the ones that he knew lived nearby.''

Cleo nestled closer into Raphael's plastron while he shifted, uncomfortable about the sudden prickle of nervousness he felt down his back, just like when he was a child.

''It starts with the clanking of pipes…then the soft pattering of what may or may not be footsteps. You begin to feel the cold grip of fear upon you as you lay in bed at night, unsure if the groaning outside in the tunnels is just your imagination…or someone quietly calling your name.''

There was a sudden whirring sound as the fridge kicked in, setting everybody even more on edge. On a roll, Leo lowered his voice to a gravelly whisper.

''You see shadows where there shouldn't be any, feel invisible eyes watching your every move…the familiar drips, creaks and clangs of your once safe sewer home are no longer a welcome sound but you can't figure out why…until the night he finally comes for you.''

Mikey ducked under the arm that Donatello had automatically lifted in anticipation of his need for comfort, using his little brother's desire for closeness to hide his own unease as Leo weaved the familiar tale into something more terrifying, invoking the same fear they had felt when they were small, casting them back into a time where they were only seven years old and snuggled together under one blanket in one of their beds, shivering with fear. Raphael was glaring at his older brother but not out of anger, only to disguise the nervousness he hadn't expected to feel upon hearing the familiar tale. It reawakened memories of sneaking into Leonardo's room to cuddle up with his older brother who would welcome him silently and never say a word about it the next day, even when they found that Mikey and Donnie had done the same thing, terrified of spending the night alone for fear of hearing an evil voice call their name in the darkness.

Cleo's voice, tiny with terror, broke through his uneasy thoughts. ''What happens then?''

Fully possessed by the power of the story, Leo gave an unnervingly dark laugh.

''You lay in your bed, alone and full of unease, not even daring to move a single muscle. You hear a thud, followed by another, and then another, slow and unhurried but drawing ever closer. It's his _footsteps, _the ones you have been hearing but dismissing as nothing for so long, but there's no mistaking them now. Then, there's the scraping of his claws, long and ragged, trailing along the hallway as he heads slowly along it, searching for a bedroom door to open…His voice, once a faceless echo in the tunnels, is now so very real as he softly calls your name…''

Cleo was shivering against Raphael but he found himself unable to move, paralysed with the same reluctant terror that had rendered him powerless as a child, the same fear that had always made him too scared to even move his eyes away from Leo's nasty grin, just like now. He watched, heart pounding, as Leo leant back slightly to survey them all with a serious gaze, made ever more menacing by the weakening glow of the candle.

''He might not strike straight away, he may lurk in the shadows in the corner of your room, or perhaps at the foot of your bed, waiting for you to catch one sight of him before he swoops down and whisks you away forever. Once he has you in his grasp, in his sights, once he is in your room…once you see him, there is no escape…I can only offer you some advice. Stay in your beds and whatever you do…''

He lifted the candle up to his lips and offered them all one final malevolent grin.

''When you hear a knocking outside your room in the dead of night…''

Everybody held their breath.

''Don't open the door.''

He blew the candle out, plunging them into darkness.

* * *

><p>The lair was never completely silent during the night. The general nocturnal ambience was made up of dripping taps, clanking pipes and the whirring of appliances, maybe even the sound of Donatello tinkering in his lab or Michelangelo mumbling in his sleep. It was never fully silent and each familiar noise was something that they all took comfort in…but not tonight. Tonight, the lair was full of a silence so thick with trepidation it was almost a physical being, waiting to unleash something into the darkness. The once comforting noises, as depicted in Leo's story, were no longer reassuring but were now indicators that something truly frightening could be lurking in the shadows. The sound of a bedroom door creaking open echoed down the dimly lit upstairs hallway before a small head poked out of the doorway, twisting back and forth with anxiety. So frightened that she couldn't stop herself from hopping from foot to foot and humming loudly, Cleo took another look around before hurtling across the hallway to knock quickly on the opposite door. There was a squawk from inside followed by a loud thud and then a crash. She looked around again, face creasing and humming growing louder as the fear began to truly take hold of her, clogging her senses and filling her mind with nothing but the sense that something was going to grab her any second now.<p>

''S-Sewer Stalker?!'' A voice asked from the inside of the door.

''Uncle Mikey!''

The door flew open and a green hand shot out to wrench the small girl inside where she was promptly swept up against Mikey's heaving plastron.

''Thank shell for that! I thought you were…'' He held her away from him slightly to get a good look at her face. ''Did you hear knocking? Whispering? Anything paranormal or stalkerish?!''

Cleo shook her head, eyes wide and fearful. ''I don't know. I heard stuff but I don't know…it's all like Uncle Leo's story!''

Mikey quickly hugged her to him again, willing himself to calm down.

''Okay, we're clearly just overreacting…probably ate too much candy or something. How about we just stay here together, yeah? It can be our little sec-''

His voice was cut off as there was a sudden whir of surging power and then a loud pop as the lights, however dim they were, went out, enveloping them in blackness.

''It's the Sewer Stalker!'' Cleo whispered into Mikey's shoulder, clinging onto him with a panicked grip. The turtle squeezed her in return and tried to summon his courage.

''It's okay, let's just…head out down the hall and go find the others and we can watch a movie or something…a funny one, one with lots of slapstick, yeah that would be good. We're okay, we're okay…''

Mikey continued to mumble to himself as he edged blindly forward into the hallway, willing his eyes to adjust to the lack of light. His footsteps were soundless as they crept along, holding tightly to one another. It didn't take long for a sudden shuffling from up ahead to stop Mikey in his tracks, prompting him to clap a hand over his own mouth to stifle his seemingly loud breathing. Cleo pressed herself closer into his plastron, eyes peering blindly into the darkness as the sound moved towards them. Then, without warning, there was a loud shout and a bang from further ahead followed by another one from somewhere nearby which sent Mikey into a screaming frenzy, the shock sending him reeling back into the left wall with a loud thud.

''Please, Mr Sewer Stalker, I don't wanna die!''

The screaming and shouting came to a stuttering halt as a blinding torch beam flooded the hallway, immediately illuminating the four large turtles and small girl that stood within inches of each other, their faces a mixture of terror, fury and bewilderment. The beam of light was lowered away from their flinching eyes to reveal a familiar shape behind it.

''My sons, what on earth is all the noise about?!''

Mikey turned his stunned face to look back at his three brothers who were now staring at each other, unable to quite believe what had just happened. They all broke out into a loud squabble, all eager not to be blamed.

''Leo told us a scary story before we went to bed!''

''Only because you all forced me to!'' Leo snapped. ''Sensei, it was against my better judgme-''

''I heard somethin' out in the hall an' then the power went out so I wanted to check on the kid, then this moron,'' He flicked Donatello on the back of the head, ''bumped into me.''

''I was going to try and fix the power! It's not my fault that you weren't paying attention.'' Donnie grumbled.

''You came flyin' outta your room like the devil was chasin' ya, what was I supposed to do?!''

''So, nobody saw the Sewer Stalker?''

Before everyone could round on Mikey, the mention of the entity that had been haunting her all night caused Cleo to start crying, her left arm coming up to cover her eyes as she wailed uncontrollably, the tension finally too much for her. Raph quickly hurried forward and took her from Mikey, automatically rocking her back and forth in a soothing motion as she wept into his shoulder. He turned to glare at Leo who immediately glowered back at him.

''I told you that she was too young to hear that story but you wouldn't listen to me.''

''Well, you didn't have to tell it like you did, you freaked us all out!''

''Oh, that's right, blame me for everything, as usual. You know what, Raph-''

''ENOUGH!'' Splinter's voice immediately silenced the quarrelling brothers. ''Do you mean to tell me that this is all stemming from that story I used to allow Leonardo to tell you when you were children?''

The four turtles nodded solemnly, suddenly feeling foolish.

''I see,'' He said, eyes lingering on a snuffling Cleo as Raphael finally began to calm her down. ''I think it best if we allow this lesson to speak for itself and leave it at that. Hopefully you have all learned something from it. Let us go sit in the living area together. Donatello, if you wouldn't mind seeing to the power?''

As they trundled after Splinter and the steady beam of light, Mikey let out an obnoxious chuckle.

''I can't believe you guys actually thought that the Sewer Stalker was coming to get you. I mean, how ridiculous can you get?''

He was hit upside the head more than once.

* * *

><p>Much later, as the early hours of the morning began to creep in, only Splinter and Raphael remained awake, keeping vigil over the rest of the family as they slumbered close by. Raphael removed his gaze from a sleeping Cleo and cleared his throat awkwardly, meeting Splinter's expectant gaze.<p>

''I screwed up big time tonight. Kid likes watchin' old eighties horror movies with those stupid aliens an' monsters an' she doesn't have nightmares anymore 'bout what happened so I didn't think that some stupid ghost story would bother her too much…'' He rubbed his head in frustration.

''You made the simple error of believing that because she has experienced something so much more terrifying in real life, fictional horrors would not have such an effect on her.''

Raphael nodded, the shame and fury at himself evident on his face.

''My son, you are simply testing the boundaries. Granted, you may have gone too far but it was not done with bad intentions…Have you ever considered the fact that I may have gone too far when I passed that story on to your brother to tell to you all in my absence?''

''Sensei?''

''I foolishly assumed that because you all had each other for comfort and security, you would never really feel any true fear as long as you were together. However, you have all proven me wrong one time or another. Whether it stems from hearing that story or something else is irrelevant, my son, because although my decisions have never truly caused any traumatic outcomes for any of you, there have been times where I have been the catalyst for your discomforts and anxieties in some shape or form.'' Splinter's whiskers twitched as he smiled softly as his self-doubting son. ''The point that I'm trying to make, Raphael, is that just because you make the odd mistake here and there, doesn't mean you are a bad father. Far from it, in fact.''

Raphael looked back down at the sleeping child nestled against his side. Her face was relaxed and free of tension, as it had been for the last six months since the nightmares had stopped. There was no sign of any trauma or mental damage caused by his inept parenting skills.

''My son, children are more resilient than you realise. Cleo is a walking example of this fact and while you would do well to remember that, perhaps prepare yourself to see past her charm before agreeing to give her something that she wants and consider if it is actually in her best interest.''

As Raphael caught the teasing smirk on Splinter's face, Mikey chuckled sleepily from one of the nearby recliner chairs.

''He means she's got you wrapped her round her adorable pinky finger, bro.''

Raph seized a nearby pillow and hurled it at Mikey's face before turning a surprisingly vulnerable gaze back to Splinter.

''You really think I'm a good dad?''

Splinter beamed at him but before he could answer, Leo's voice sounded from the other end of the couch.

''No, Raph. You're a great dad.''

''I concur,'' Donatello agreed drowsily from his nest of blankets on the floor.

''No doubt about it.'' Mikey mumbled before snoring loudly.

Raph cleared his throat gruffly but was unable to hide his embarrassed yet proud smile.

''Thanks, guys.''

* * *

><p><strong>So, there you go! I know it was pretty ridiculous but I hope that the more serious scenes were decent enough. I like to think that no matter how experienced Raphael becomes, he'll always have a niggling of self doubt and needs a little bit of back up sometimes. Also, I know Leo kinda went OTT in the story telling scene but I've always figured that Leo never does anything half-assed, even when he's reluctant to do it in the first place. Plus, I think it is basically the right of the oldest sibling to scare the younger members of the family, no matter how sensible and responsible they may be! I know the fact that four ninja turtles becoming frightened over a stupid ghost story is...well, stupid, but I figured that it played upon their childhood fears which, let's face it, most of us suffer from and it doesn't matter how big and strong you are as an adult, it still messes with you so I wanted that to be shown in their not so sharp reactions in the hallway.<br>**

****I kid you not when I say that I used to sneak into my brother's bedrooms and watch things like Predator and Aliens when I was really little and hardly be bothered by it, but would turn into a complete wreck when it came to truly creepy stories and scary practical jokes and the like. I know it's a bit different than a parental figure doing it but they were definitely old enough at the time to know better!  
><strong>**

****Please excuse all mistakes, grammatical errors and anything else idiotic, I am no expert in proof reading. Please review! ****


	3. Fourteen Years Old

**Thanks to everyone who has been reading this and my previous story, there is still a very high level of traffic on both stories and I've had some more faves on Playing Daddy which is great, and I wanna say a massive thank you to 'tmntfan4ever' for leaving two lovely reviews and being the only person to do so. It's fantastic to know that so many people are reading this but some reviews would still be greatly appreciated! **

**So, this next piece is set way into the future compared to the last two but hopefully you'll still enjoy it. It contains some content that some may find sensitive but I've done my best to do the subject justice so I can only hope that I have succeeded.**

** Additional info; April was pregnant with her and Casey's first child in the first installment when Cleo was six, so I picture them having two children between now and this piece, being about 8 and 6 years old. Turtles are almost in their thirties, which is a very weird thought!**

** Apologies for any mistakes or errors, I have no proof reader apart from myself and I do try my best, I promise! Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise is not mine. **

* * *

><p>''You've got to be freakin' kidding me!''<p>

The high pitched scream, filled with teenage outrage and anger, echoed through the lair with such a force that Raphael actually flinched in response. Michelangelo instantly froze for a moment, a bagel held halfway to his mouth, before turning a wide and fearful gaze to Raph. The bagel trembled slightly as Raph glared expectantly at him.

''Wasn't me, man.''

''It better not have been.''

''I swear!''

Raph palmed his face with weary anticipation.

''She's only been home for five minutes. I don't know what the hell coulda happened…''

The two brothers snapped their heads to look at the upstairs platform as a furious stomping sound made itself known. Within a few seconds Cleo was standing at the railings, her freckled cheeks stained red with anger. Raphael fought the instinct to suck air in through his teeth at the sight of her blazing eyes and clenched jaw; he knew her severely pissed off face when he saw it.

''What's wrong, kiddo?'' Mikey asked, his voice high with forced cheer.

''My room is a complete mess…again!''

Michelangelo blinked in confusion.

''Erm…hate to break it to you, angel, but you gotta put things away properly if you don't want it to be messy.''

Raph watched her hands clench around the metal railing so tightly that the skin around her knuckles turned white and wished that he was close enough to smack Mikey over the head. Instead, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his own head and made himself to look into her furious eyes.

''I guess Tommy and Danny got in there again, huh?''

''My makeup is all over the floor, it's actually been smeared into the rug!'' She yelled, her braces making her snarl seem more ferocious. ''They've thrown loads of my clothes all over the place and they've even taken my dvds out of their cases, for no freakin' reason!''

Raphael nodded in what he hoped was an understanding manner.

''Alright, I'll give April a call in a while an' tell her she needs to have a word with 'em.''

Cleo shook her head, her mane of dark hair whirling around her face. ''You did that last time and it didn't make any difference!''

Raph sighed, feeling his frustration beginning to build. Over the years he had definitely learned how to level out his temper when it was necessary but it was still difficult to suppress, especially when it came to dealing with things he didn't understand. Like his teenage daughter.

''Well, if it'll make you feel better I'll go over there later an' have a word with 'em myself.''

Mikey, who had been happily staring off into space while eating his bagel during the conversation, couldn't help but snort with laughter. ''Yeah, cos I'm sure April and Casey will appreciate you giving their children nightmares for the rest of their lives!''

Raphael slowly twisted his head and fixed Mikey with a terrifying glare. ''You're not helpin', dumbass.'' He snarled quietly, before turning his attention back to the angry teenager that was still staring at him. ''Look, they're only kids, you know they don't mean it.''

Cleo gaped at him in astonishment for a moment before flinging her arms up into the air. ''Oh, in that case, I'll just go and rip Uncle Donnie's lab and destroy Uncle Leo's meditation stuff because I'm just a kid too, yeah?''

Raphael pointed a warning finger at her. ''Alright, don't start gettin' sassy. I know you're upset an' all but don't be childish 'bout it.''

Cleo let out a short, sarcastic bark of laughter. ''Oh, I'm childish because some little brats have trashed my room which I know have to clean up and I'm expressing my anger about it?! Thanks, I feel so much better now!''

Before Raph could reply, the door to Donatello's lab opened and Donnie's goggle covered head poked out. ''What's with all the shouting?''

''Tommy and Danny got into Cleo's room and made a mess again.'' Michelangelo explained, getting up to head to the kitchen. ''Anyone want a soda?''

''Sure!'' Cleo called out loudly. ''I can use it to ruin all your comic books! You won't mind though, will you, cos I'm just a kid.''

Michelangelo only gave a good natured smirk in response as Donnie removed his goggles to reveal an oil smudged face. ''The boys? I said they could go upstairs and play because they were driving Casey nuts…'' He looked from Cleo to Raph and winced helplessly. ''I'm guessing that was a mistake?''

''Does nobody in this place ever consider my feelings? You can't expect for me to accept that you all think that it's okay for them to act like that?! How about next time you let them play in one of your rooms and see how you like it!''

''For cryin' out loud, Cleo, nobody said it's okay!'' Raph snapped. ''Your Uncle Donnie made a mistake, he didn't mean to and I'm gonna speak to April for you about it, alright?''

Donnie smiled gently. ''I'm sorry, please don't be too mad at me. I promise I won't do it again, okay?''

Raphael watched in irritated and wounded shock as Cleo offered a reluctant yet accepting twitch of a smile to her uncle then fixed him with a poisonous glare before stomping off back to her bedroom. He turned to look at his brothers, the disbelief evident on his face. ''What the hell?''

Michelangelo drained his soda in one gulp and crinkled the can. ''I believe we have been fully immersed into the teenage years, my dear bros.'' He winked playfully at Raphael. ''Luckily for me and Donnie, we're still her loveable uncles so she can't stay mad at us for very long…you on the other hand…'' He threw the crushed can into the nearby trash basket to emphasise his meaning.

Donnie tilted his head in question. ''What about Leo?''

Mikey wiggled his hand from side to side. ''He's probably just behind Raph in Cleo's firing line, mainly because he can be a total buzz kill.''

Donnie chuckled. ''Yeah but I think that just stems from the fact that he watches the news too much and panics over those pieces about teenage drug addiction and such.''

''Yeah, whereas Raph only has to enter the room for Cleo to be pissed off at him, now that's a real gift!''

Raph was so busy trying not to fly across the room to throttle Mikey that he didn't notice Leo until the eldest turtle's calm voice reached his ears. ''What is going on?''

''We're just discussing our descent into the world of mood swings and teenage angst.'' Donatello explained in a tone too chipper for Raphael's liking. At the sight of Leonardo's bemused face, he elaborated, ''Cleo's pissed off and hating on Raph right now.''

Leonardo looked worriedly over at a pacing Raphael. ''That's not good, Raph. You should be mindful of her feelings at this time of her life, she could easily be suffering from depression.''

''Oh, come on, Leo,'' Michelangelo laughed and Donnie grinned along with him. ''She's not depressed, at least not any more than the average teenager. Don't you remember what we were like at that age?''

''I don't remember being like that.''

''Course you don't. You were too busy being perfect!'' Raphael snapped, giving up on the pacing and heading into the kitchen to drop heavily into a chair. He looked witheringly at his older brother who only looked back obliviously. ''I don't remember you havin' too many angry outbursts at that age.''

Leonardo rolled his eyes. ''Well, it's not like anybody would notice because you were carrying enough angst and anger for all four of us!''

Michelangelo laughed loudly and Donatello grinned widely. ''That's for sure, although I remember Donnie being quite melancholy from time to time.'' Michelangelo quipped, elbowing Donnie gently in the side. ''Many times I caught him staring sadly at his computer screen, unable to decide if buying a romance novel off Amazon was the best way to-argh!''

Michelangelo buckled under the sudden weight of Donatello, quickly discarding his soda and sinking into the nearest chair as they began to playfully grapple. Raph watched with a vacant expression whilst Leonardo moved to lean against the sideboard in longsuffering observance. ''For crying out loud, you two. You're pretty much in your thirties, at least act like it!''

''Don't remind us!'' Mikey wailed, gaining the upper hand by flinging Donnie backwards and leaping onto the table, balancing perfectly as it wobbled precariously under his weight. ''I can't stand the thought of being middle aged!''

''I would hardly call it middle aged, Mikey.''

''Well, I'm the youngest so you'll be middle aged first!'' Mikey chortled before squawking in panic as Donnie managed to seize him by his foot and launch him through the air as though he weighed no more than a piece of paper. Years of practice allowed him to land as gracefully as a ballerina and before Leonardo could reprimand them again, Donatello quickly pounced on Mikey and the two of them began to crash around the lounge with loud yells and echoing laughter. Shaking his head but unable to hide the smile on his face, Leonardo watched them fondly as he sat in a chair next to a silent Raphael.

''So, you're having a bit of a tough time with Cleo lately, huh?''

Raph only glared at him, crossing his arms over his plastron in his usual defensive position. Leonardo could only but sigh at his brother. Over the years so much had changed; along with everybody growing older, watching Cleo blossom and thrive and the addition of April and Casey's sons, they had also lost Splinter four years ago and it had devastated them all to the point that Leo wasn't sure how they would recover. They had struggled, survived and endured the aftershock of their sensei's death in their different ways but in the end they had come out of the other side as a stronger family unit, albeit one member short. Even now, the absence of him was still a painful thing that they all felt, but Leonardo suspected that during times like this, when his fatherly presence and boundless wisdom was desperately yearned for, Raphael was the one who missed and needed Splinter the most.

''Raph…'' He held his brother's moody stare. ''You know you can talk to me about anything. If something's bothering you…''

'''She hates me an' I don't know why.''

Leo gaped at him in a manner similar to a goldfish, completely stunned by Raph's immediate reveal of information. Years of experience in dealing with the sometimes volatile relationship they shared had Leo believing the only way to get Raph to admit to anything, at least to him, was to wind him up until he exploded with emotion, not Leo's favourite way of dealing with things but it seemed to be the only thing that worked. This reaction, however, was a new development that Leo didn't know how to respond to immediately until he actually took in what Raphael had said and frowned in disbelief.

''What? Raphael, don't be so ridiculous. That girl absolutely loves you.''

A bitter, sad smile formed on Raphael's mouth. ''I can't even remember the last time she even smiled at me.''

''I seem to remember a time when you wouldn't even look Master Splinter in the eye, let alone smile at him.''

''That's me, though. She's…Last year all she cared about was readin' her books, doing her art and playin' games…Now she's wearin' make up an' she's always on her phone…there are days where she barely says two words to me an' even then it's just to tell me to leave her alone.'' Raph sighed and Leo felt his heart twist at the pain that was evident on his brother's face, even if he was trying to hide it. ''I've always had my issues, always been angry an' I'll be the first person to admit that…but she's always been so warm an' kind. Even when I expected her to be damaged after everythin' that happened, she didn't seem to be…so maybe it's me, maybe I've fucked up somewhere.''

Leonardo shook his head. ''You have done everything exactly right. You've provided for her, given her every single thing that she needs and wants. She has us, she has April and Casey and the boys, a good school, friends, freedom…you've given her a good life, Raph.''

'''Then why does she hate me?''

Leo sighed. ''Have you tried talking to April about this?''

Raph shook his head. ''Not really. I mean, she's mentioned the moodiness to me but she just said it's just a typical teenage thing an' that's it nothin' to worry about.''

''Well, then why are you so worried?''

''Because she's still nice to April, she still talks to her…she don't talk to me anymore.''

''Raph…is she giving you any clear warning signs that this must be more than just teenage hormones? They always say that distance is one of the first signs of a problem.''

Raph looked at him sceptically. ''What kind of problem?'' He asked slowly, his tone almost too calm for Leo's liking.

''I'm not saying it is anything like this but it's always best to be prepared for any scenario…but maybe it's to do with something like drugs or maybe some people she spends time with…or perhaps she's struggling with her classes or she's in some sort of trouble.''

Raph was looking at him as though he had suddenly grown three heads. It wasn't a look of simple bemusement, Leo knew that for sure. The flashing glint in Raphael's golden eyes was the tell-tale sign that whoever was talking to him was on thin ice and Leo didn't really have the strength to truly fight with him when he knew it wouldn't do any good. ''Look, I'm not telling you that she is going through any of those issues but I really think you need to consider and prepare yourself for any possibility. Bottom line is, Raph, you need to talk to her.''

''Yeah, bro,'' Mikey chipped in as he and Donnie returned to the kitchen, sweaty and breathless from their little tussling match. ''Although maybe it would help to talk to April first.''

Raph snorted scornfully. ''Yeah 'cos that'll help! She'll either tell me I'm overreacting or she'll be all over Cleo like a rash tryin' to find out what's wrong an' then I'll definitely be the one to blame if that happens.'' He sighed, shoved his chair away from the table and stood up. ''If I'm not back in an hour, send reinforcements.''

His brothers watched him slowly head to the upper floor, an unusual hesitance in his steps. Mikey reached into the fridge and yanked out three cans of beer, tossing one to Leo and one to Donnie. They watched in bewilderment as Mikey popped the tab on his can and raised it in a salute. ''To Raph, our heroic yet idiotic brother, who dared to face the perils of teenage angst.''

Unsure of what else to do or say apart from wait, Leo and Donnie clanged their cans against Mikey's and they each took a deep gulp, silently wishing their brother well in what was no doubt going to be a very dramatic event.

* * *

><p>Raphael stood outside the purple door of Cleo's bedroom, staring at it. He spent a lot of the time knocking on it these days, or so it seemed. It was usually locked so he didn't bother trying the handle and knocked gently.<p>

''Cle? You in there, kid?''

His sensitive hearing picked up some shuffling but he received no response. His anxiety began to form into annoyance at being ignored and he knocked on the door again with a little more force.

''C'mon, kid. Open the damn door so I can talk to you.''

''Go away!''

Raph inhaled deeply, trying to remain calm. ''Don't make break it down 'cos you know I will.''

''I said go away!'' Came the screeched reply.

''You got five seconds before it comes down an' I ain't gonna get you a new one.''

To emphasise his point, he knocked the door in time to his slow counting down. ''Five…four…three…two…-''

''Alright, alright!'' The door swung open to reveal a very angry girl who immediately fixed him with her most venomous glare that he immediately recognised as one of his own. ''Do you get some kind of kick out of trying to annoy me?''

Raph shrugged. ''You tell me. Apparently me breathin' is annoyin' to you.''

Cleo simply glowered at him before turning around and heading back into her room, flopping onto her paper-strewn bed. Raph followed her and closed the door behind him before leaning back on it, unwilling to enter any further until he felt that he had the upper hand in whatever was about to happen. Whatever carnage had been caused by the boys seemed to have been rectified as much as it could have been although Raph immediately spotted the makeup that had been rubbed into the rug and noted the pile of screwed up clothing in the corner. He sighed to himself and made a mental note to take the rug with him next time he went to visit April and Casey to sort out getting it cleaned. He, like the rest of the family, adored Tommy and Danny who were essentially great kids but sometimes they overstepped the mark and it was happening a bit too much at Cleo's expense for his liking. Hopefully talking to April and Casey about it and actually making it so it wouldn't happen again would put him back in Cleo's good books, but deep down he didn't think that was likely.

He cleared his throat in the hope it would prompt the start of a conversation but Cleo pointedly ignored him, sketching something on a big pad that lay in front of her, but he took comfort in the fact that she didn't put on her headphones to completely block him out like she had done on a few occasions. He knew he should be grateful for small mercies, like the fact that she never blasted her music at full volume throughout the lair like Mikey had made a habit of doing since he was her age, but it still did nothing to eradicate the twinge of sorrow that Raph felt when she actively chose to simply pretend he didn't exist. He was more than capable of standing there all night if he had to so he bided his time by staring around her bedroom; it was a decent size and impressively neat for the room of a teenage girl. It was a mixture of purple and turquoise in colour and was covered in drawings, paintings and pictures with a few band posters thrown in here and there. It was well equipped with all the latest technology such as a television and laptop, a large bookcase, wardrobe and a pretty white dresser that doubled up as a desk which was covered in equal amounts of make-up and art supplies. The only thing that was missing, as it was in all the rooms in the lair, was a window although Cleo had painted one on the far wall to make up for that fact, even styling it to include part of the city skyline as the view. He noticed that Scruff, her ever faithful if now slightly battered teddy, had pride of place on the table beside her bed and he smiled to himself, thankful that some things didn't change.

Raph was immensely glad that she didn't have to suffer living in a cold, dank box of a room with only things they had scavenged to call her own like he and his brothers had. Even with Donatello's genius and technological configuration of the lair that provided them with all the basic necessities and more, it had still been a far cry from being considered a home. It was only after the arrival of April and then Casey in their lives that things began to truly change. He smiled to himself as he remembered Mikey's face at the sight and feel of the pile of freshly laundered bed sheets that April had given to them, full of awe and wonder at something that even they now considered a normal thing. It was amazing how far they had come over the years and he sometimes had to remind himself that things hadn't always been this way, that he and Cleo also shared a similar past of an unfair start in life which was probably why he spent so much time trying to give her everything that he never had at her age. He knew she appreciated it but that didn't make their current situation any easier. He sometimes found it hard to be the parental figure when he could understand how she felt when she was angry, when he had been in her exact position in terms of resenting the whole family for not understanding and just wanting things to be easier. He felt hypocritical really, scolding her for her temper and angry outbursts when he had been no better, in fact probably a lot worse than her, during his own teenage years but there was little he could do about that fact. He was quite sure that there was little he could do about the whole thing except just try but he didn't know if just trying was going to cut it anymore.

''Are you really gonna stand there all night?''

He jerked his head to look at Cleo, fully anticipating the withering glare that was waiting to meet his gaze. He shrugged lazily in response before resuming his casual perusal of her room, knowing that he had pretty much done the equivalent of poking a pissed off lion with a stick. He didn't look at her as he heard her inhale sharply and start to tap her fingers irritably on her sketchpad. He knew that if he broke first then he would lose the battle before it had even begun, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try and fix this whole damn mess tonight.

''Would you just go away?!'' Cleo snarled after a few minutes ''I don't want to talk to you!''

''Well, tough luck, 'cos you gotta talk to me whether you like it or not, kid.''

''Ugh!'' Cleo kicked her sketchpad away in disgust and drew her knees up to her chest so she could rest her folded arms on them, tucking herself away as tightly as possible. ''Well, you're gonna be in for a very long wait 'cos unless your ninja skills have given you the ability to make people talk against their will, I'm not talking to you.''

''Ah c'mon, Cleo,'' Raph groaned, rubbing a hand across his forehead. ''You're talkin' to me at the moment so can we just cut this borin' angsty teenage bullshit an' you just tell me what's botherin' you so much lately?''

''Nothing is bothering me apart from you!'' Cleo exclaimed, her lips curling over her braces in a sneer. ''Now go away!''

''Me?!'' Raph asked incredulously. ''What the hell have I actually done?''

''The boys were in my room and they messed with my stuff! They've done it loads of times and you haven't done anything to stop it. This is my room, I should be able to leave my things in it without worrying about someone going through them or destroying them!''

''I told you,'' Raph replied, his voice strained yet reasonably calm. ''I'll speak to April and Casey 'bout it an' this time I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. If I have to glue 'em to the ground to stop it from happenin' again, then that's what I'll do, alright?''

Cleo didn't answer, choosing instead to huff in annoyance and tuck her face into her arms so she was no longer looking at him. Raph decided to take this opportunity to come further into the room, coming to stand just a little bit away from the bed.

''So, I know I'm pretty useless at this kinda thing most of the time, but I'm guessin' this whole…'' He waved his hand around in the air as he tried to grasp the right word, ''angry thing you got goin' on isn't just about the boys comin' in here.'' He took a deep breath and gingerly sat on the bed, wincing as it dipped considerably under his weight. ''You wanna tell me what's goin' on?''

Cleo sighed, her shoulders heaving up and down from the force. ''I am not doing drugs, I'm not in a gang and I'm not having any suicidal thoughts, okay?''

Raph frowned. ''I never said you were.''

''Well, that's what Uncle Leo thinks.'' She grumbled, then smirked ever so slightly. ''Oh, I'm not pregnant either, just so we've covered all bases.''

''Thank god for that.'' Raph murmured, feeling a sense of relief at hearing her make a joke, even if it was a half-hearted one. ''You know your Uncle Leo don't really think those things, he's just a bit dramatic with this sorta stuff.'' He smiled to himself. ''D'ya know, back when we were just a little bit younger than you, your Uncle Mikey decided to neck about twenty cans of Coke an' it sent him so insanely hyper that your Uncle Leo thought he was actually high.''

Cleo lifted her head in interest, her braces sparkling as she laughed gently. ''Seriously?''

Raph grinned. ''He dragged him to see your grandpa, completely convinced that Mikey was off his face on somethin'. Splinter knew what had really happened but I think he got a bit of a kick out of the whole thin', plus he wanted to teach Leo to stop believin' the worst in every scenario. Leo ended up sulkin' for two whole days while Mikey had a great time bouncin' off the walls like a nutter until he had a sugar comedown.''

''How did Grandpa know that Uncle Leo was wrong?''

Raph snorted. ''He was our dad, he knew everythin'.'' He fixed her with a serious yet unusually tender look. ''Just like I'm yours an' I know that none of those things you just said would ever be a problem with you so I'm hopin' you'll just put me outta my misery an' tell me cos I gotta tell you, kid, I'm fresh outta ideas.''

Silence followed as Cleo stared at him, her eyes searching him intently. His skin prickled under the scrutiny but he endured, hoping that he had said enough to encourage her to open up to him.

''I can't tell you.''

Damn.

''Why not? It's me, you can tell me anythin', you know that.''

Cleo shook her head. ''This isn't something I want to tell you.''

''Well…''He fumbled for a moment, hoping that the hurt he was suddenly feeling wasn't evident to her. ''Can you tell April or somethin', just so you can let out whatever it is you're feelin'?''

''Okay, why would I tell April if I don't want to tell you?'' Cleo snapped.

''I don't know! It could be a girl thin' that you might not feel comfortable sharin' with me! Christ, Cleo, I'm tryin' to be as understandin' as I can here but you're makin' this really difficult for me.''

''Oh, I'm sorry!'' Cleo screeched, her voice reaching a high note. ''I'm sorry that my problems are such an inconvenience to you! I'm sorry I'm such a burden! I'm sorry that you have to waste your time talking to me!''

Raph watched in bewilderment as she looked at him furiously before bursting into tears, burying her face back into her arms and sobbing loudly, her shoulders quivering furiously. Without even thinking about it, Raph reached forward and gently prised her arms away from her face before pulling her into an embrace, smoothing one hand over her soft hair while rubbing her back gently with the other. She barely put up any resistance, quickly hooking her arms under his shoulders and holding on firmly as she sobbed into his plastron. He rocked her slowly from side to side, murmuring gentle words of comfort as she cried against him, clinging so tightly to him that he could feel her nails digging into his skin. His mind was a mess of thoughts about going out to find and probably kill whoever had caused her such anguish and as the minutes passed, his heart broke over and over again as he listened to her cry and cry. He was terrified about how upset she was and even more petrified about how he was going to be able to fix it for her, if he actually could.

It was only when her sobs began to subside, most likely from exhaustion rather than relief that he found the courage to push her back slightly and look into her face. Her freckled face was flushed and hot to the touch as he smoothed a few tendrils of hair away from her damp skin, his eyes questioning as he studied her face intently. A few more tears escaped her overflowing eyes as she took a deep breath.

''Dad…I…I think…'' She closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself. ''I _know…_I like…'' She looked at him. ''I'm gay, Dad.''

Of all the things Raph had been expecting her to say, it definitely hadn't been that. He just stared at Cleo for a moment, his mind unable to let go of whatever terrible things he had been imagining and allow him to focus on what she had just said. He was aware of her watching him, tears still streaming from her green eyes as she waited for his response, her nails digging into him again as his silence seemed to become as loud as someone screaming. As the initial shock of her words abated, he noticed a warm sensation brewing somewhere inside which he immediately recognised as pride, something he felt so often whenever it concerned Cleo and he smiled at her, prompting a confused yet hopeful look to cross the young girl's face.

''Baby girl,'' He said, stroking her left cheek gently, his green fingers vibrant against her red skin. ''Is that what's been botherin' you so much?''

She nodded weakly, loosening a hand from his arm to rub her eyes. He chuckled softly, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. ''You really thought that I would be bothered by that? That any of us would be? I mean, have you seen this family?!'' He asked incredulously, gesturing to himself and feeling relief when she smiled weakly. ''I don't care if ya like girls or boys, as long as you're happy, kid. That's all that matters to me.''

Her face was lit up with surprised joy but he could sense the tension that emanated from her. ''What else is upsettin' you? Has somebody been pickin' on you?''

Cleo shook her head, much to his relief. ''No, I'm just…I don't know how to…deal with it. I don't know any other girls who are gay and there's just so many stereotypes around gay women…I mean, let's face it, I don't exactly look the way a lot of people expect a lesbian to look.''

Raph snorted. ''So? You're you an' you like girls, that's all there is to it.''

''I know…I'm just worried that people won't accept me because I don't fit into that view…I guess I'm just afraid that people won't accept me as this, no matter what.''

Raph frowned. ''So, you think you gotta change the way you look an' act just so you can be considered really gay, is that it?''

Cleo shrugged, fiddling with the sleeves of her jumper. ''Not really…I just know that so many people think lesbians are butch women who wear manly clothes and stuff, they don't think of them as being feminine or girly or anything.''

Raph snorted. ''Well, those kinda people need to go to hell for bein' so stupid. Screw stereotypes, they're for mindless idiots who need a life. You can look, feel and be any way and anythin' you wanna be, don't matter what anybody else thinks. You can be butch, be girly, be whatever ya damn want. Anybody who makes you feel less than perfect ain't worth your time, got it?''

''What if my friends don't accept me though?''

Raph sighed softly. ''Then they ain't real friends, squirt. The ones that are worth keepin' would support you whatever happens.'' He looked at her carefully. ''You promise nobody said anythin' to you?''

She nodded. ''I haven't told anyone yet…just you.''

''You don't have to tell anyone else, you know. Not even April or Casey if you don't wanna.''

''No,'' She sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve nosily. ''I will do, soon.''

Silence filled the room again, except this time it was a comfortable one. Raphael looked at his daughter carefully, his expression a thoughtful one as he studied her. She was still so young. He couldn't quite wrap his head around the fact that she had now reached the age where relationships, intense friendships and love would all start playing major roles within her life. She was fourteen years old, the age where she was both younger and older at the same time; she was mature for her age, he knew that for sure, but that didn't change the fact that she was still, at least in his mind, a little girl in so many ways. Time had gone by so fast and Raph felt like he had somehow not realised as there was now a young girl sat in front of him who was slowly turning into a women. As he returned the tired smile that she threw his way, he felt his heart ache in a way he had never experienced before; a longing for who she used to be and a swelling of pure pride for who she was and who she would become.

''I'm sorry if I've been so horrible lately,'' Cleo said, rubbing her red eyes. ''This whole thing has just been getting me kinda down, I guess.''

''Hey, s'ok, you wouldn't be a teenager if ya didn't get pissed off every so often.''

Cleo smirked cheekily at him. ''From what Uncle Mikey tells me, your version of every so often was every day.''

Raph glared at her playfully and she flashed him a sparkling grin.

''So, is there a particular girl that's caught your eye?''

Her face turned a pretty shade of pink. ''Dad…''

He snorted. ''I'll take that as a yes.''

Cleo ducked her gaze. ''It doesn't matter anyway, she wouldn't be interested in me.''

''Now who the hell wouldn't be interested in you, huh?''

Cleo looked at him as though he was a complete moron. ''Someone who is straight.''

''Ah…gotcha,'' Raph looked away awkwardly. His eyes caught the sketchpad that rested on the bedcovers and he picked it up, studying the colourful and detailed drawing of a young redheaded girl on the page. ''This her?''

Cleo's face went from pink to a burning red and she quickly scrambled for the sketchpad, frantically grabbing for it as Raph held it out of her reach. ''Give it back!''

''She's a cute little thing, ain't she?'' He said brightly. ''Is she definitely this pretty or is this just a testament to your artistic ability?'' He chuckled and leant further backwards as she struggled harder to reach the pad. ''C'mon, kiddo! Just 'cos I don't gotta deal with boys doesn't mean I ain't gonna be picky 'bout any girls that you wanna date.''

Cleo sat back slightly, her face once again sombre. Raph immediately lowered the pad, afraid of setting her off again without really meaning to; she was a teenager, after all. ''What?''

''You'll never get to meet anyone that I date, will you?''

Raph didn't know what to say. Sure, he'd never met any of her friends but that was only because they were young and the novelty of knowing a real life talking turtle might be too much to guarantee any honest silence from them. There were a few friends that she had remained close to since she was very young that he would most likely meet one day if Cleo deemed them truly loyal enough but, strangely enough, he'd never really given much thought about meeting someone she was dating. It wasn't like there had been much to think about as he was unable to physically do much in the way of sussing out any potential jerks that she could bring home, so he would have asked Casey to act in his stead when it came to scaring off boyfriends…but she was going to be bringing girlfriends home, so did that mean April would have to play that role? Would it be extremely ridiculous to expect Casey to still perform his duty as the protective adoptive father figure when he would be in over his head just as much as Raph would be? He palmed his face in tired exasperation; how the hell did she go from being a sweet, caring little girl who loved nothing more than drawing pictures for him, watching movies and playing games to an equally talented and warm-hearted teenager who suddenly had so many things to worry about?

''Dad?''

He reached out to stroke her hair reassuringly. ''When you meet the one that you think is gonna be around for the long haul, I promise I'll be there an' I'll meet 'em as many times as you want me to, okay?''

Her face remained uncertain and he smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging manner that disguised his own bitterness about the stark reality of their lives. ''Hey, at least let 'em get past Casey first, huh? He's enough to put anybody off meetin' the rest of your family.''

Cleo's mouth twitched slightly but she didn't smile. ''You've missed out on so much already…I hate it so much.'' Her eyes began to glisten with tears again which she was quick to rub away with her fist. ''I wish that you could be there, Dad.''

Raph sighed and stroked her hair again. ''Kid, believe me, I'd be there for every second of every day of your whole life if I could be. I know it sucks but trust me when I say that when it really counts, I'll be there.''

Cleo rubbed her eyes again and nodded. ''Okay.''

Raph tilted her head forward and pressed a kiss to her hair. ''So, you gonna tell me her name or what?''

Cleo smiled shyly. ''Hattie.''

''Hattie, huh…'' Raph picked up the sketchpad again and looked at it thoughtfully. ''This the same Hattie you've been friends with since middle school?''

''Yeah…we're real good friends but I know she's straight, she has a crush on a guy in our art class.''

Raph flinched inwardly. Unrequited love for another person wasn't something he was really an expert in, seeing as the only experience he had with that sort of thing was when he had a little crush on April back when they first met, and even that hadn't really been a crush but more of a curiosity. However, he knew what it felt like to yearn, want and long for something that seemed so impossible and it was a painful thing that only time and acceptance could cure.

''Well, I don't know what to suggest, kiddo. I ain't really the expert on romance.''

Cleo chuckled softly. ''I'd like it if you had a girlfriend.''

Raph snorted. ''You and April are all the female I need in my life, squirt. You should try talkin' to her 'bout this stuff, she'll be more helpful than me.''

''Yeah, I think I will…'' She laughed nervously. ''I wonder what everyone will think.''

''Nothin' cos it's not a big deal. Although...damn, I forgot about Mikey.''

Cleo's face turned pale with surprised hurt. ''What about him? Will he have a problem with it?''

''Are you kiddin'?! He's gonna be even more of a pain in the ass when he finds out he can talk 'bout girls with you! Jeez, what are you tryin' to do to me?!''

Cleo was hysterical with laughter, leaning back against the headboard of her bed and clutching her sides as she shrieked loudly with glee. ''Oh, as embarrassing as it sounds, I actually can't wait!''

''Knucklehead is almost thirty an' still acts like a complete moron.'' Raph shook his head before looking at Cleo seriously. ''You want me to tell 'em?''

Cleo was quiet for a moment before she nodded. ''Yeah, I think it would be easier for me if I just wake up tomorrow and they know so I don't have to keep telling everyone like it's something that needs declaring over and over, you know?''

''I gotcha, kid.''

She leant forward and hugged him again. This was the most affectionate she had been towards him in what felt like an extremely long time and Raph was only too happy to take full advantage, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a gentle squeeze. Relief whirled around inside him in such an intoxicating way that he felt slightly dizzy and he breathed out slowly into Cleo's hair to steady himself. Finally, they had knocked down the wall that had been standing between them, at least until something more teenage related caused her to be pissed off at him again, but he was quite sure he could deal with that pretty well after this.

''Thanks, Dad.''

''No problem, squirt.''

Yeah, he was definitely sure.

* * *

><p>''So, that's what the problem was this whole time?'' Mikey asked incredulously, flailing his arms in the air. ''I've known she was into girls for, like, a year!''<p>

''What the hell are you sayin', Mikey?!'' Raph exclaimed. ''How did you know?''

Mikey, who was propped up in one of the squashy recliner chairs in the lounge, straightened himself up to gape at Raph. ''Are you kiddin' me, bro? It was totally obvious!''

Donatello and Leonardo, who were sat at either end of the huge couch like a pair of bookends, glanced at each other in bewilderment before both fixing Mikey with sceptical looks. ''How, exactly, was it obvious?'' Donnie asked, his tone dripping with doubt.

Mikey wiggled a finger around his temple and waggled his tongue madly. ''You ever hear her talk about boys, at least in the romantic sense? She doesn't even appreciate Johnny Depp beyond his acting abilities, if that isn't a dead giveaway then I don't know what is!''

''Oh, come on, Mikey!'' Leo scoffed. ''You actually think that is a plausible explanation?''

Mikey held up a finger. ''That, and the fact that she goes all gooey over the nude scene with Kate Winslet in Titanic.''

Raph kneaded his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. ''Mikey, ignorin' your insanity for a sec, you're actually tellin' me that you knew all this time?''

Mikey shrugged. ''Well, I guess I just assumed but I still can't believe you guys didn't at least suspect something!''

The three other turtles could only look at one another with mirrored expressions of stunned surprise as Mikey relaxed back into his chair, a chuffed smile on his face.

''God, we're living in a world where Mikey is intuitive and April is the one who will intimidate any of Cleo's potential suitors,'' Donatello mused, shaking his head.

''I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto,'' Leonardo quipped and Donnie snorted before picking up the manual he had been reading before Raphael had entered the room, settling into the cushions as Leo unmuted the television to continue watching the news while Mikey slipped his headphones back on and fiddled with his iPod. Raph, on the other hand, remained standing as he had been since he walked in, now motionless with shock at the casualness of the situation. He had been expecting something along the lines of shock, confusion, maybe a bit of denial or some slightly dismissive reactions but ultimately acceptance, but he had definitely not expected this air of unfazed acknowledgement.

''S-So, that's it then?''

Leo didn't avert his eyes from the screen. ''Why, did you expect something else?''

''No, I just…I thought…'' Raph stopped and breathed out, chuckling softly to himself as he looked at his brothers, honourable and good in every way possible, and smiled. ''No, I didn't.''

''Good. Do you mind sitting down?'' Donnie mumbled, not looking up from the manual. ''Your hovering is distracting me.''

''Sorry, Braniac.''

Raph dropped down into the free recliner on the other side of the couch and immediately employed the footrest, stretching out with a deep sigh. The four brothers sat in companionable silence, enjoying the contentment of simply relaxing together. It lasted a while and Raph was drifting into a light doze when Mikey suddenly removed his headphones and said, ''Hey, if Cleo likes girls, does that mean she has magazines I can borrow?''

''Mikey, why-RAPH!''

''Raph, let go of him!''

''RAPHAEL! This is ridicu-let go!''

''Uncle, uncle! Arghhhhh!''

* * *

><p><strong>My cousin spent a year trying to work out how to come out to our family and honestly worried that because she didn't fit the stereotype, people wouldn't take her seriously. After a long time worrying and planning, she just blurted it out over a huuuuge Christmas dinner, to which my uncle said something along the lines of: ''That's wonderful, baby, can you pass the gravy?'' She was so shocked it was actually quite hilarious looking back on it but yeah, it's a memory that's always stuck with me and I used it as inspiration for this piece. I wanted to highlight the fact that the turtles, having lived their lives under the weight of so much prejudice, would always be the first to accept anyone for nearly anything, especially one of their own, but the fact is that there isn't really anything to accept in the first place!<strong>

**Of course, there is a change in Cleo's character as she is a teenager here and I love the idea of her and Raph butting heads on a regular basis but still finding ways to still show they love each other fiercely. He's still her hero, she's still his baby girl, but that doesn't mean they won't have a normal father/daughter relationship where the teenage years play havoc on both of them! Also, I always imagined Leo being a bit of a worrier in this sort of situation, not sure why I just think it fits him haha. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, please please please leave me some feedback, comments, thoughts or ideas you may have, it would make me very happy!**

**'Til next time! **


	4. Seven Years Old

**Hey, guys! Hope you're well! So here's another installment in the Playing Family saga-this one is a bit shorter than the other pieces I've done so far but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Apologies for any grammatical errors and such. **

**Disclaimer: Nothing TMNT related is mine. **

* * *

><p>Raphael turned to face April, his face murderous with rage.<p>

''What do you mean they suspended her?!''

''It means that she won't be going back to school until next week. Raph, she gave the kid a fat lip.''

''Well she's hardly in the best shape herself is she?!'' Raph snarled, throwing his arms into the air and stomping over to the window to glare out into the streets below. ''Did the other kid get suspended?''

April's expression darkened. ''No, he didn't. Apparently there were too many witnesses that stuck to his side of the story.''

Raph snorted. ''Witnesses? They're seven year old kids! What the hell do they think they're doin' up there, runnin' a courtroom?!''

''Believe me, I had it out with the principal for the best part of an hour but he just refused to listen to reason,'' April said, her voice low with anger, ''absolute idiotic ignorant asshole.'' She muttered loud enough for Raphael to hear and he couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly before his anger took hold once more.

''This isn't the first time some kid has upset her so why ain't they findin' a way to stop it?!''

April came to stand next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. ''I think the fact that she isn't very forthcoming with her version of things doesn't help.''

''So she's a little shy sometimes! That ain't a crime!''

April dug her fingers lightly into his skin. ''Raphael, don't shout at me, I'm trying to help here.''

He didn't say anything but slid an apologetic gaze over to her, nodding for her to continue.

''I've been thinking about this for a little while but I was reluctant to really bring it up because, well, I don't want her to somehow misread my thoughts and think I'm blaming her or that she's at fault in any way, but I've been thinking about maybe putting her in a different school.''

Raphael's brow crinkled. ''What good will that do?''

''Well, it'll get her away from that tool of a principal for a start!'' April said. ''Honestly, even if some little cretins weren't being horrible to her, I'd still be considering it because of him. Since he started there last year the whole place has gone to the dogs. All those new teachers he hired are just awful, I mean how can you run a school when you haven't got an empathetic bone in your whole body, it's just-''

''April.''

''Right, sorry.'' She took a deep breath. ''I just think it'll be somewhere where she can start fresh, really make some decent friends, have kind and supportive teachers who actually care about children, somewhere where she'll be happy.''

''Got a place in mind?''

April smiled. ''Of course. I'll make some calls, see what I can do.'' Her smile faltered ever so slightly and she turned her gaze downwards, guilt flashing across her face. ''I should have done it sooner, I shouldn't have kept her at that school when I could see she was unhappy.''

''S'not your fault. You're great at this whole mom thin', you can be there to fix stuff when it goes wrong. What can I do? Fuck all.''

''There's plenty you can do. You can go in there and talk to her, make her feel better because I think the one thing that's bothering her more than anything else is that you're going to be angry or disappointed with her.''

Raph blinked. ''Why the hell would she think that?''

April shook her head. ''Just go and talk to her. I'll make a start on getting her out of that school.''

Raph watched as his friend headed off to retrieve the phone and he sighed before walking through the apartment to where the bedrooms were. He could hear Tommy's snuffled breathing from April and Casey's bedroom as the little tyke snoozed the afternoon away in his crib. He moved further along until he came to the room that served as Cleo's second bedroom for all intents and purposes and pushed the door open, feeling his heart twist at the sight on the other side. Cleo was perched on the edge of the little bed, hands resting in her lap and feet hanging above the floor. Her head was bent forward and her little shoulders heaved as she sobbed silently, her face red and soaking with tears. Raphael hated knowing that she had been crying this way, alone and quiet in her bedroom as though she was in trouble. He stared at her sadly for a moment, taking in the rips in her tights at the knees and the pink bruising on her hands and he couldn't help himself from striding into the room and sweeping her up into his arms, holding her as tightly as possible.

''C'mon, kiddo. Please don't cry.'' He whispered, stroking her hair as she whimpered into his neck. He walked around the room, rocking and shushing her much like the way he had done when she was a toddler. After her cries morphed into wet snivelling and the occasional hiccup, he loosened his grip to try and look at her face but she twisted her head away from him.

''Hey, don't hide away from me, squirt. I ain't here to tell you off, I just wanna talk to ya, okay?''

Cleo slowly turned to look at him, her green eyes wide with trepidation and shiny with tears.

''I'm sorry, Daddy.''

He set down on the bed and dropped down beside her. ''Why don't you tell me what happened.''

''It was that stupid Justin Muller kid and all his friends.'' Cleo said angrily, wiping her nose loudly on her sleeve. ''He started saying all these things about me being adopted and how my real parents didn't want me cos I'm a freak and stuff. I told him to be quiet but he wouldn't and then he made his friends all push and shove me, then he stole my sketchbook and ripped up all the pages.'' Her voice began to tremble. ''I was drawing you a picture for your birthday next week and he ruined it.''

There was a storm raging within Raphael as various emotions fought for dominance; he felt unbelievable contempt for the kids that had dared to say such things to his little girl, undeniable rage for the incompetent teachers who couldn't see what was really happening at that school and aching sadness for the little person sitting beside him.

''So, after he ripped up your book, that's when you hit him?''

Cleo shook her head. ''No. I told him that I was gonna go tell a teacher, then all his friends started shoving me again and then I fell over and scrapped my knees. He started calling me a cry baby, said my adoptive parents would wanna get rid of me 'cos I'm a cry baby and that I'll end up living in the sewers where all the unwanted people go. That's when I hit him.''

''Did you hit him just the once?''

Cleo slowly shook her head. ''No, more than once…lots of times, I guess.''

''Did he hit you?''

Cleo wrinkled her nose. ''Not much, he kept missing.''

Raph couldn't help the bark of laughter that shot out of him. ''Little scrapper, ain't ya?''

''Then a teacher came and shouted at us, they all blamed me, then I got sent to the office and Mr Harding told me that I was in really big trouble and that it wasn't ladylike to fight people.''

''Yeah, 'cos that's the main concern here, jeez, the guy is a complete jackass.'' Raph mumbled, his fury smouldering away somewhere inside him.

''I'm sorry that your present got ruined, Daddy.''

He raised his hand and pressed a finger under her chin, lifting her head up so he could look her in the eyes.

''You don't be sorry for anythin', okay? That kid got everythin' that he deserved.''

''But you taught me that it's wrong to hurt people.''

Raph palmed his face, struggling to find the right words. ''Usually it is…but you know how me an' your uncles go out an' protect the city from bad guys?''

''Uh huh.''

''And sometimes we have to fight people cos they're doin' bad stuff an' we can't get 'em to listen, right?''

''Yeah…''

''Well, what I'm tryin' to say is that sometimes, you have to do stuff that might be bad for good reasons. Normally, I would tell ya to not hit people 'cos it's not a nice thin' to do, but today I think you were pretty damn justified in doin' what you did. These kids were bullyin' you and hurtin' you, you just fought back, right?''

Cleo considered his words. ''Yeah, I guess so.''

''Also,'' He gave her chin a soft squeeze, ''you know that all the stuff he said is complete crap, right?''

Cleo frowned at him as though he was crazy. ''Yeah, course I do. You live in the sewers and I want you, I live there with you and you want me, so he's stupid for thinking that only unwanted people live down there, 'cos we all want each other, right?''

Raph grinned broadly and scooped her up into his lap. ''Very much, kiddo.'' He kissed her head gently.

''You sure I'm not in trouble?''

''I'm sure. Now we just gotta sort out what we're gonna do 'bout that school.''

''What do you mean?''

Raph jerked his head towards the door. ''Your Aunt April is in there havin' it out with that ass of a principal as we speak. She thinks it would be a good idea if we put ya in a different school, where the teachers are nice an' you can make some real friends. Whaddya think?''

''Wouldn't that mean that I'm running away from my problems?''

''No, kid. The morons at that school are the ones with the problem, not you. It ain't runnin' away if the people you're dealin' with don't have a brain cell between 'em.''

Cleo took this in and finally, a small smile formed on her lips, lifting her red cheeks. ''I think I'd like that.''

''Good.'' He gave her another squeeze. ''An' just so you know, if anybody bothers ya again like that, make sure ya tell us, okay? There's no point in protectin' anyone when they wouldn't do the same for you.''

Cleo shrugged awkwardly. ''I wasn't protecting them, I just…'' She looked at him, her eyes suddenly full of a fierceness he had never seen before. ''I wanna be strong and brave like you. You never run away from things, you're never afraid. I didn't want you to think I was a wuss or anything.''

Raphael ran a finger over the scuffed skin of her tiny knuckles, equally chuffed and dismayed by her words. Truth was, he was afraid quite a lot of the time when it concerned her. Afraid of silly ridiculous things most of the time, like that he wasn't feeding her the right food or that she had been kidnapped when she was five minutes late getting home from school. Other times, he was afraid of being without her or not being there to protect her, of someone taking her away from him again, of being useless when she needed him. He would never allow her to see that he was ever afraid, never fail to be the strong and brave father that she needed him to be, he couldn't ever allow that to happen. He couldn't bear the thought of her believing that he wasn't able to scare away the monsters underneath the bed or that he wasn't capable of making any of the bad things in her life go away, nor could he deal with the fact that she thought he would ever consider her anything less than the beautiful, brave and kind little thing that she was.

Unsure of what to do next, he went with the first thing that sprung to mind. ''You wanna hear a secret?'' He whispered loudly, immediately drawing an intrigued nod from the Cleo. He bobbed his head back to motion her closer and she leant in eagerly. When she was close enough that her nose was almost touching his cheek, he took a deep breath and blew a loud raspberry on her neck, eliciting a horrendously high-pitched shriek from her. He held her securely as she tilted backwards, all but hanging upside down in an attempt to get away from him, tickling her in the sides just for good measure.

''Noo, Daddy, STOP I-hahahaha! Stop it tickles! Please, Daddy, pleeeaaaaasseee!''

He ceased his relentless attack on her and hefted her back into a sitting position, unable to hide the grin on his face as she laughed breathlessly.

''See, if you really were a wuss, you'd run away when I do that sorta thin', not sit on my lap an' laugh!''

Cleo chuckled while she caught her breath. He reached up and smoothed her curly hair back from her face, allowing his grin to fall into a sincere smile.

''Trust me, kid, you're not a wuss an' you gotta promise you won't ever think different, alright?''

She nodded, a pretty blush creeping into her cheeks. ''Alright, Daddy.''

''Right. Now we got that outta the way, why don't I take a look at your war wounds, huh?''

He made a show of inspecting her scrapped knuckles and grazed knees before he shook his head gravely.

''I don't know, kid, I think it's pretty hopeless.''

''Really?''

''Oh, yeah. Think Uncle Donnie might have to chop ya legs off.''

Cleo shoved his shoulder as she laughed and he grinned.

''There might be a cure though, if we act quickly we might be able to save 'em…''

''What is it?''

''Yep, there's only one thin' for it…Ice cream!''

Without warning, he swept her up and threw her into the air, catching her perfectly with both hands and setting her on the floor where she wobbled on the spot with laughter. ''Quick, before it's too late!''

As he watched her hurtle out of the room, he let out a loud sigh of relief. While he may never be able to fix things in the way that April could, he was definitely the best when it came to making his little girl feel better. As he heard her call his name eagerly from the kitchen, he felt the weight lift from his shoulders and he hurried out to join her in their quest for leg-saving ice cream.

* * *

><p>A week later, Raphael awoke in his bed, grumbling to himself at the fact that he was another year older. Already he could hear Michelangelo's eager chatter echoing up from the kitchen and he groaned, knowing that his brother had probably already consumed an insane amount of sugar in his excitement. He jolted at the sound of a loud crash before smirking at the reprimanding sound of Splinter's voice. With a groan, he heaved himself to his feet and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Hopefully Splinter wouldn't give him too much of a hard time if he decide to pound Mikey for being too annoying; how the knucklehead could still act like a teenager at twenty three years of age was just beyond him.<p>

After taking a quick shower and brushing his teeth, he retrieved the gifts he had been hiding for his brothers, fixed his mask and dropped over the rail into the lower part of the lair, finding himself greeted by his brothers sitting around the kitchen table which was covered with a smorgasbord of breakfast foods.

''Hey, now we're all here, birthday celebrations can begin!'' Mikey chortled, whirling a spoon covered in cake mixture through the air like a baton, splattering the kitchen surfaces with the sticky substance, drawing cries of outrage from everyone.

''Happy birthday, my sons.'' Splinter said serenely, joining the brothers as they handed gifts to one another. Raphael glanced round the kitchen, noticing the absence of the smallest member of the family.

''Where's Cleo?''

Donnie looked up from the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary he had just unwrapped and smiled at his brother. ''She left us with strict instructions to not let you go into her room until she says so.'' He held up a gigantic tin of sour jelly sweets and a hand drawn picture depicting Cleo and Donatello reading a book together, his smile now a big grin. ''She also gave us our presents.''

Raph looked at the drawing and smiled. ''Christ, that kid is so talented it's not even funny.''

''Tell me about it,'' Leo agreed, showing him the tall scented candle and picture she had given him, this one showing Leonardo teaching Cleo how to do a handstand, something they had accomplished together only a few months ago. ''All my drawings are just basically sticks with circles for heads.''

''And that's putting it nicely,'' Mikey quipped, dropping the spoon and picking up his gifts to show Raphael; a huge box of assorted cookies and a picture of Cleo and Mikey baking together in the kitchen, something they did regularly together, especially on lazy Sunday mornings. ''This is so taking pride of place on my wall!'' He grinned before setting it down to begin opening his other presents.

Raph smirked and ripped open the paper on his own presents. From Leonardo, he received a stack of thick motorcycle magazines, a new leather skipping rope and kneepads from Donatello, a crate of his favourite beer from Michelangelo and a new red comforter made of the softest cotton from Splinter. As thanks, laughter and food were shared over the table, Raphael felt his stomach tighten in anticipation as he waited for Cleo to summon him.

When she called his name from over the railings above, he nearly fell out of his chair in his haste to see her, eliciting laughter from the rest of the family. He leapt up, kicked off the side of the wall and whirled over the rail to land beside his daughter. She grinned up at him, displaying the gap where her two front teeth had been until two days ago. Without a word, she took his hand and led him down the hallway to her room. At her door, she turned to him and adopted a serious expression.

''You gotta close your eyes.''

He peered down at her. ''Seriously?''

Cleo folded her arms and nodded sternly. ''Yup!''

He made a show of rolling his eyes before he closed them, lifting a hand to cover them for good measure. He could feel Cleo looking intently at him to make sure that he wasn't peeking, then she took his hand again and pulled him into her room. He walked forward slowly until she placed her hands against his plastron to stop him. He heard a rustling sound and Cleo whispering to herself before she said, ''Okay, you can open them now.''

He lowered his hand and opened his eyes; in front of him on the floor was a poster sized piece of paper covered in a multitude of colours and lines that formed a faraway New York city skyline during a bright orange sunset with Raphael and Cleo watching it from a rooptop, hand in hand. The detail, the composition of colour and the effort that had obviously gone into the drawing absolutely astounded him and he found himself completely at a loss for words.

As his silence filled the minutes, Cleo's face, which had been alight with excitement and happiness only moments before, fell and she wrung her hands together worriedly.

''Do you not like it? I know it could be loads better but I've been working on it since last week when the other picture got torn up. I kinda screwed up some of the buildings, I think, and the sun looks a bit blobby but…'' Her lispy voice trailed off, unable to keep the disappointment from her face.

Raphael shook his head and quickly knelt down beside her, gathering her up into a big hug.

''Squirt, this is the most amazin' thin', the best present I've ever got.''

She pulled back to look at him, her gappy smile huge on her face. ''Really?''

''Hell yeah!'' He gestured to the picture in amazement. ''You really did this all by yourself?''

Her hair bounced as she nodded and he grinned at her, pride swelling up inside of him like a balloon.

''You really like it, Daddy?''

''I love it,'' He affirmed, kissing her forehead. ''An' I love you, ya little talented genius.''

After another tight embrace, he rose to a standing position, Cleo held securely against him with one arm. ''Guess we best see 'bout puttin' this up on my wall.'' He turned his head to call down to his brothers, only to find them and Splinter standing in the doorway, eager grins adorning their faces.

''Can we see it yet? She wouldn't let us look at it at all while she was working on it,'' Mikey complained.

Raph quirked an eye ridge at them. ''You all knew 'bout this?''

Leo grinned. ''Of course we did. I had to help her sharpen all the pencils on a daily basis.''

''And I had to help her find the perfect picture of the city skyline to use for a reference.'' Donnie informed him, winking at a beaming Cleo.

''What about you, knucklehead?'' Raphael asked Mikey as he bounced on his tiptoes to try and see the picture.

''I provided her with delicious sugary snacks to keep her energy levels up.'' He stated proudly.

Raphael rolled his eyes and looked towards his father. ''Sensei?''

There was a twinkle in Splinter's eyes and his whiskers twitched. ''I merely kept up the notion of having no knowledge of this delightful creation whatsoever.''

Raphael chuckled and looked at his little girl. ''Guess you'll definitely be best in the class at your new school when it comes to art, huh, kiddo?''

Cleo beamed at him. ''You betcha.''

Later that night, after a fun filled day of watching cheesy movies, eating an obscene amount of food, a visit from April, Casey and baby Tommy and just relaxing with one another, Raphael collapsed into his bed with a sigh, fatigue already lulling his body into the world of slumber. He turned his head to the far wall and smiled, taking in the drawing that hung there with pride. The severity of the love and awe he felt for Cleo covered him like a soothing heat and he sank into a peaceful sleep, dreaming of future days to come where they would share sunsets together again and again.

* * *

><p><strong>I've always figured that Raphael, and his brothers too were they to ever have children, could only reprimand them so much for things like physical violence and self defense without appearing totally hypocritical unless they approached the subject carefully. Here, I feel that Raph would be the most lenient seeing as he knows he has trouble with his own temper and understands how it feels to lash out when someone just pushes the right buttons, so he isn't too hard on Cleo, even when he possibly should've been, although I feel she's justified too, but that's only cos she's my character haha ;D Also, little headcanon within this chapter regarding Donnie, I've just always pictured him sucking and chewing on sour sweets while working in his lab, so much so that they need to be extra sour for him to even react to them anymore. Gotta love that Brainiac! <strong>

**Til next time, guys. Please please please leave reviews if you read and enjoyed/hated this and please, if you have time, check out the first chapter of my new story! Thanks! **


	5. Eight Years Old

**_Hello, friends. Here's another snapshot into the life of Raphael and Cleo for you; I must admit that I did struggle with it for some reason even though I was really eager to get it down, but somehow it just never seemed right so apologies if it's not up to a decent standard or seems weak in terms of story and such, and for any grammatical or wording errors. Anyway, I still hope that you enjoy! _**

**_Disclaimer: All things TMNT and Harry Potter related do not belong to me._**

* * *

><p>The rain lashed against the window furiously, joined repetitively by a bright bolt of lightning and a boom of thunder every few minutes. Cleo pressed her forehead against the glass and sighed loudly with boredom. Her father and uncles had headed out for endurance training hours ago, taking advantage of the darkness and poor winter weather and hadn't come back yet, despite her dad promising that they wouldn't be long. She glanced over at the copy of <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows <em>that was resting on the coffee table and let out another sigh, drawing a sympathetic look from Casey from his position on the couch.

''C'mon, kid. They'll be back any minute now, you'll see.''

''They were supposed to be back ages ago!'' The eight year old whined, picking up her book and stomping over to the couch and flopping down beside Casey. ''Daddy promised we would read some more chapters tonight.''

All of the inhabitants, bar Splinter who had taken a long overdue trip to visit his friend The Ancient One, were currently residing in April and Casey's apartment due to a failure in the heating system for the lair. Donatello had spent two days tinkering with it in every possible way before finally giving in and ordering new parts that were needed to fully repair it. Unfortunately, the parts wouldn't be with them until the end of the week so, in the meantime, the four brothers were bunking down on the floor and couch of the living room while Cleo stayed in her second bedroom.

''Well…'' Casey said, scratching some of the old scars on his neck in thought. ''I guess you could read while you wait and catch him up when he gets home?''

Cleo shook her head, thumbing the pages. ''It's not the same. Daddy won't admit it to you guys but he really likes Harry Potter and I don't him to miss any of it.''

Casey smirked, amused greatly by the idea of his rough and somewhat bad tempered friend liking a story about a boy wizard, suspecting that it was true mainly because Cleo loved it so much. His smile faltered slightly as Cleo turned her attention back to the window and he reached out to ruffle her hair comfortingly, at a loss for what to do.

''Erm…'' he looked around for inspiration. ''How about some sweets, huh? Some ice cream? Ice cream is good!'' He leapt to his feet and hurtled to the kitchen, wrenching open the door of the freezer just as April emerged from the back of the apartment, an empty plastic beaker in her hand. She looked at Casey with questioning eyes which were met with a jerk of the head, moving her attention to the little girl sat glumly on the couch.

Setting the empty bottle on the side, April moved to wash her hands in the sink. ''I thought the guys would've been back by now.'' she said quietly to Casey as he raided the cupboards. ''Surely even they won't want to stay out in this weather for long?''

To emphasise her point, the sky released another brilliant flash and a heavy bang of thunder that sounded as though it was directly above them. Cleo immediately hurtled from her seat back to the window, pressing her hands against the glass to look outside again.

''I hope this storm doesn't get any worse,'' April mused, drying her hands on a towel and dodging out of Casey's way as he proceeded to rifle through the drawer beside her. ''It's taken me ages to settle Tommy, even after he had some warm milk he was fussing, I couldn't bear it if he woke up again.''

''He'll be fine,'' Casey reassured. ''Once he's really out for the count, that boy will sleep through anything.''

''Mm, I'm not so sure. I just hope his future brother or sister has more appreciation for sleeping than he does,'' April replied and rubbed the small bump concealed under her shirt, drawing a smile from Casey as he shuffled past her, brushing a kiss to her cheek.

''What the hell are you doing?'' she asked, trying to peer over his shoulder. After a moment, he whirled around with a grin, holding a deep bowl filled with a mountain of chocolate ice cream covered in strawberry sauce, whipped cream and a variety of sprinkles. April looked at it with disapproving yet amused eyes. ''God, are you trying to give that girl diabetes or something?''

Casey grinned proudly, the movement stretching out the mess of scar tissue on his face. ''This'll cheer her up for sure!'' He looked over in Cleo's direction. ''Here you go, kiddo! This is an Uncle Casey special, proven to be good for what ails ya!''

Cleo turned to look at him and couldn't help but smile a little. With one last glance out into the drenched city that lay beyond the window, she began to walk over to them. April gave Casey a pleased smile before holding out a hand towards Cleo.

''Don't worry, honey. You know what those four are like. I really bet they'll be back any minute.''

As Cleo's fingers closed around April's, there was a horrendous clang of something colliding heavily with the fire escape outside before the window was hurtled upwards carelessly with a bang. Seconds later, a drenched Mikey and Donatello leapt into the room, reaching back out to assist Leonardo in heaving an unconscious, wet and blood soaked Raphael through. Their frantic voices and fast movements did nothing to dislodge Cleo from the frozen state she was in; her eyes were wide as she watched the brothers sweep the dining table clear and place Raphael onto it. Casey hurried forward to bombard them with questions while April dashed to the nearby linen cupboard and began to pull out reams of sheets and towels, passing them to Donatello who quickly began to place them against Raphael's wounds. Cleo's eyes moved from the wet patch at the bottom of the open window to the trail of bright red blood that led to the table where it was dripping from the wooden slab in thick droplets, staining the light carpet beyond repair. Her ears couldn't discern words or voices from each other; Donatello's authoritative orders blurred with Casey's frantic questions and April's falsely calm tone and she felt a bubble of panic begin to rise up inside her chest.

''Daddy…'' She mouthed silently, fear gripping her relentlessly in an icy grip.

She felt like she was back in the moment after the explosion all those years ago, back when all hope had seemed lost, when the family had broken down over the assumption that Raphael had left them, when he lay motionless on the floor while Donatello tried to beat the life back into him. As she watched her brainy uncle try to revive her dad for the second time in her short life, Karai's voice, full of taunting and triumph, flooded back into her mind for the first time in so many years and she couldn't help the terrified scream that burst forth from somewhere in the pit of her stomach. The high pitched wail sent a shockwave through the huddle around the table and April clapped her hands to her mouth in shock, blatantly appalled at herself for having left Cleo standing alone in the kitchen. Michelangelo sprang forward without hesitation and swept her up into his arms, making it so her screams hit his shoulder with muffled ferocity. With a frightened glance back at his motionless brother, he stepped out of the room and headed into Cleo's bedroom, patting her back and muttering words of comfort into her ear.

''Come on, little dudette,'' he said, closing his eyes in tortured desperation. ''It's gonna be alright, it's all gonna be okay, he's gonna be back to his grumpy self in no time, you'll see!''

His unconvincing voice fell on deaf ears as Cleo turned her terrified eyes up to his face. ''He's dead, isn't he?! He's dead!''

''Hey,'' Mikey said in an uncharacteristically stern voice, turning to stand her on her bed so he could look at her properly, ''don't say things like that, of course he's not dead!''

''Then why isn't he moving or opening his eyes?!'' She screamed back at him, clinging onto his arms with a sharp grip. ''She said this would happen, she said that he would die and she was right!''

''Whoa, whoa!'' Mikey reached up and held her face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks in an attempt to calm her. ''Who said that?''

Cleo swallowed and let out a loud hiccup of fear. ''K-Karai.''

Mikey frowned. ''She…she's gone, baby. You know that, right?''

Cleo shook her head. ''It's what she told me…before that night, before you all came to rescue me. She told me that one way or another, even if she wasn't the one to do it, he would definitely die, she promised that she would and she was right!''

Mikey closed his eyes at the onslaught of memories that suddenly assaulted him and sent a wave of icy terror washing over him; visions of Karai gloating at her supposed victory, her sneering words of abuse and malice, the sight of Raphael's battered body resting upon the cold ground without any sign of life. He knew that Cleo had suffered greatly at the hands of her psychotic mother and her followers, but he'd never really let himself think too much about it for it simply hurt too much, haunted him to try and picture what she had been through. Hearing that Karai had looked her own daughter in the eye, a small and helpless three year old child, and vowed that she would make sure that the person who truly loved and cared about Cleo would die made him feel an anger that he didn't know he was capable of feeling. He'd been there when he thought his big brother had almost died at Karai's hands, had sworn revenge and threatened to kill her himself before Raphael had risen up and done it for him, and now he was wishing that she was alive just so he could act out his revenge, to make her pay for the fact that even now, years later, she still had a hold over his family.

He heard Cleo draw in a trembling breath and opened his eyes to look at her.

''She told you nothing but lies. Your dad is the strongest guy in the world and he is not going to die.''

Cleo peered back at him for a moment before reaching out her arms for a hug. He responded quickly, wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he could without hurting her and swaying her gently, wishing and hoping with all his might that what he said was true.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Cleo stirred as a hand gently brushed against her forehead for a moment before moving away. Opening her eyes, she looked up into the face of a weary Leonardo who gently smiled at her in the pale darkness of the bedroom.<p>

''What time is it?'' She whispered as she straightened up, careful not to disturb a slumbering Mikey who was kneeling beside her, head resting on the edge of the bed and snoring softly.

''Almost six in the morning,'' he replied softly.

''Did you speak to Grandpa?''

Leo's stomach clenched as he recalled his earlier conversation with Splinter; the anguished tone to his father's faraway voice wasn't something he would forget anytime soon.

''He's understandably very upset and worried and said he's going to try and change his travel plans so he can come home sooner.''

''Maybe Daddy will be awake by the time he gets home?''

Leonardo didn't want to consider the possibility that something even more horrific could happen in Splinter's absence. Instead, he lifted his hand and gently petted Cleo's hair.

''You really should go and get some proper sleep. It can't be comfy sleeping in a chair with this idiot snoring next to you.'' He motioned to Mikey with a wry smile which Cleo couldn't truly bring herself to return.

''Not until Daddy wakes up,'' she informed him, turning her attention back to her bed where a still unconscious and deathly pale Raphael lay, his chest rising slowly with laboured breaths.

Donatello had succeeded in bringing him back from the brink, fixing the wounds and injuries that marred his strong body but he still remained unconscious. Now, all they could do was wait. Donatello had made no promises and had informed them with a grave and distraught expression that they should wish and hope with all their power that he did wake up. It was a surprise ambush by a large gang of thugs that had caused it; it should have been a simple problem to take care of, except one of them got lucky and struck Raphael in a way that had stunned him and sent him flying off the roof of an apartment block. It hadn't been a particularly tall building but it was high enough to mean that he was severely hurt when he hit the ground. The alley that he had landed in had been littered with sharp debris and broken glass which had caused more injury to him, along with a cracked plastron and a fractured ankle sustained in the impact of the fall. Donatello had repaired him to the best of his ability and was now as much of a victim in the waiting game as the others.

Cleo sighed and took hold of Raphael's bandaged hand. ''It feels like he's been asleep for days but it's only been a few hours.''

Leonardo crouched beside her. ''Time always passes slowly when we're waiting for something that we really want.''

''He's going to be so mad when he wakes up.''

''Why do you think that?''

''He won't be able to move or train for ages 'cos of his ankle,'' Cleo explained. ''You know he gets fed up after just sitting still for a few hours.''

Leo chuckled. ''Yeah, that's very true.''

A silence fell between them, only broken by Michelangelo's snoring and Raphael's shallow breathing working together in a rasping harmony. Leonardo took the chance to study the face of the girl beside him in the dim glow of the rising sun beyond the window; her eyes were surrounded by dark circles, her cheeks were pale and her mouth was sat in a line that indicated she was struggling to keep her chin from wobbling.

''Mikey told me about the conversation you two had,'' Leo said carefully, letting a few seconds pass before reaching up to rest a hand against her back. ''Did you want to talk about it some more?''

Cleo scrubbed her eyes with a fist and shook her head. Leonardo quirked an eye ridge, surprised that the usually expressive and open little girl before him had decided not to talk. Glancing at the sleeping Michelangelo, he was hit with a wave of inspiration.

''Did you know that for a few weeks after we rescued you, your Uncle Mikey had nightmares?''

Cleo slowly turned her head to look at him, her face way too serious and sceptical for an eight year old. ''He did?''

Leo nodded. ''It was usually the same dream every night and, without fail, he'd always end up in either mine or Uncle Donnie's room so he could feel safe with one of us nearby.''

''What were the dreams about?''

''Quite similar to the ones you had for a while, I think.'' Leo said, unwilling to go into too much detail for fear of bringing up any more bad memories. ''What Mikey doesn't know though is that I had nightmares too, just like Uncle Donnie did.''

Surprise crossed Cleo's features. ''Really? You did? About what?''

Leo's eyes flickered to the large scar upon his thigh where the sword had been plunged into him that night; it was a length of puckered flesh along the upper part of his thigh and it was a few shades lighter than his normal skin tone. His eyes rose up to meet hers again and she sat back with a sigh, not needing him to word his answer.

''I haven't thought about in ages…'' she said quietly, looking down at her lap. ''But…with Daddy looking like that and everything…''

''It's perfectly understandable to react the way you did,'' Leo reassured her, reaching out to cup her chin so she would look at his face. ''Just remember, if your dad can survive all of what he did the first time, then he can survive this, okay?''

Cleo swallowed thickly and gave him a weak and wobbly smile.

''Okay.''

* * *

><p>''Uncle Donnie?''<p>

Donatello turned from his position by the side of the bed, lowering Raphael's arm back down having just measured his pulse. He smiled softly at Cleo as she stood in the doorway to her bedroom, dressed in a little red nightdress and baggy white socks.

''Hey,'' he greeted gently, moving round towards her. ''You ready for your story?''

It had been a full twenty four hours since Raphael had suffered his injuries and everybody, especially Donatello, was exhausted. Nobody had slept for more than a few hours and April had even kept Cleo off school, knowing that it would be a futile idea to try and send her in. They'd all taken it in turns to sit with Raphael or spend time with Cleo throughout the day; Mikey had spent the entire afternoon cooking a gargantuan mess of food that nobody really fancied but didn't have the heart to refuse, plus it had given April the excuse to get out of the apartment and go shopping with Tommy. Donatello and Casey had done plenty of tinkering and odd jobs round the place, even taking apart the bathroom sink and putting it back together again just for something to do while Leo had mediated through most of the afternoon. Cleo, when she wasn't being side-tracked by someone, had not moved from Raphael's bedside where she mostly sat and held his hand quietly, having a one-sided conversation with him every so often.

Donatello, desperate for any kind of distraction, had leapt at the chance to be the one to tell her a bedtime story before she was actually made to go to bed in a fort set up on the smaller couch in the living room, unlike the night before when she had slept in a chair. He looked her over, eyes scanning her for a book and not finding anything.

''Did you not pick out a book?''

Cleo scrunched the hem of her nightdress between her fists. ''Me and Daddy have been reading Harry Potter but I don't want to read it without him.''

''Okay,'' Donnie said patiently, ''is there not another book you wanted to read just for tonight instead?''

Cleo scrunched up her nose. ''You can't start another book when you're already reading one!''

Donnie couldn't help but chuckle. ''I guess I'd have to agree with you there.''

He watched as Cleo scurried past him to stand beside Raphael. She stood on her tiptoes and tilted forward to place a soft kiss on his cheek before dropping back down again, taking his hand in hers and stroking it. Donnie felt his heart ache at the sight of her face so miserable and afraid and he couldn't stop himself from reaching out and swooping her up into his arms, where she promptly clung to him with a choked gasp of breath. No tears fell from her eyes but he could feel her shaking and he shushed her quietly while he rubbed her back.

''How about I just tell you a story instead of reading you one?'' he suggested, leaning his head back to look at her face.

''Can it be one about Daddy?'' she asked.

''Sure,'' he said and sat down on the chair by her little desk, leaning back so his shell rested comfortably against the back. ''Now, let me see…''

Donatello had never really been one for telling stories. Sure, he could do if it the situation called for it but he was by no means a natural like Mikey; even Leo had quite the knack for it while Raph was definitely talented in bringing stories to life from the pages of books with his voice, but Donatello had never really been one for fantasy stories as a rule, preferring factual texts above fiction most of the time. However, Cleo hadn't asked him for a fictional story, she had asked him for a story about Raphael and he felt a small smile tug at his lips as he allowed himself to think for a moment, already pulling out various stories from within his memory.

''Did I ever tell you about the time that your dad saw a spider for the first time?''

Cleo blinked at him before a tiny grin appeared on her face, her eyes lighting up. She shook her head and settled against him to listen intently as he began to describe the event to her. Two hours flew by as he told her tale after tale, laughing along with her while he swore that everything he said was true. He found himself realising that he was drawing as much comfort from the stories as Cleo was and he hugged her tightly after finishing the latest one, kissing her forehead.

''Will he ever wake up, Uncle Donnie?''

Donatello closed his eyes tightly as the blanket of temporary relief from the situation that had been wrapped around him was quickly snatched away, exposing him to the harshness of reality once again.

''I hope so, sweetheart. God, I really hope so.''

* * *

><p>The wind and rain returned with a vengeance the following night, howling and battering the windows with a frightening strength. Unable to sleep for fear of nightmares, Cleo slipped out from her bed on the couch, stepped past the huddle of sleeping shells on the floor and began to creep towards her bedroom, focusing her mind on the stealth techniques that Raphael had been teaching to her over the last year. Her sock-covered toes barely made a noise as she moved silently along, holding her breath as she passed April and Casey's room. She reached her room and quickly stepped inside before closing the door and leaning against it with a sigh. Her eyes fell upon the shape of Mikey asleep upon the floor, illuminated in the glow from the bedside lamp, and she jolted in surprise at the sight of him; she hadn't noticed that he was missing from the living room and mentally kicked herself, realising that she should have checked first. The youngest turtle snored and snuffled before rolling from his left side to his right, nestling his head into the plump pillow beneath him. Sweet wrappers and comic books littered the floor around him, one still open where he had obviously fallen asleep reading. Cleo cautiously edged round him, taking care not to step on any of his comics, and came to stand by the side of the bed, looking down at Raphael's expressionless face.<p>

Cleo took a deep breath. ''I'm trying to be strong, like you always are,'' she said, taking hold of the arm that rested near the edge of the bed, ''but I'm really scared that you're never gonna wake up.''

Feeling a heavy lump form in her throat, Cleo turned away and walked to the window, staring at the raindrops that covered the glass. It was too dark and stormy outside to be able to truly focus on anything, let alone the sky that was always masked by the light pollution anyway, but Cleo told herself that the blurry glow in the rainy distance was a star. Dropping to her knees, she pressed her hands together upon the window ledge and clenched her eyes shut so tightly that a deep crease formed between them and began to wish with all her might.

''I wish that my daddy will wake up and that everything will be okay,'' she whispered as the tears began to burn her eyes, ''please let him be okay. Please make him wake up…please…please…'' She buried her face in her arms and began to cry big, fat tears of despair, no longer caring if she was being quiet. She barely remembered much from her life before she came to live with such mismatched but perfect family that loved her so much; there was only a murky memory of her real father's face and a time where Karai wasn't hell bent on avenging the Shredder. The first clear memory she had, one that was bright and more vivid than any other, wasn't of a particular event or situation, it was just of Raphael, his face soft and his arms comforting as he hugged her tightly, surrounding her with a love she had never known before. She loved him so fiercely in return that the very thought of living without him could truly become a reality sent a shockwave of pain so strong through her that she felt her heart lurch horribly.

''Daddy…'' she wept, pressing her face into her hands and gasping for breath against the tide of tears.

''Why you cryin', kiddo?''

Cleo spun round with a startled shriek, her teary eyes wide with shock. Raphael's weary amber eyes looked at her from the bed and he smiled weakly at her.

''You ain't cryin' over me, are ya?''

She gaped at him for a moment, watching in disbelief as he lifted himself into a sitting position, letting out a low groan of pain and closing his eyes in a grimace. She cautiously approached the bed, hardly daring to believe that what was happening was real. He opened his eyes again to look at her and eased his arms open invitingly.

''Well, don't just stand there, kid.''

She didn't need telling twice. With a sob of happiness, she leapt onto the bed and buried herself in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck with a ferocious grip. He moaned quietly in pain but only tightened his hold of her, stroking her hair soothingly.

''I'm alright, baby girl, I'm alright…''

''I didn't think you were ever gonna wake up,'' she whispered. ''I thought you were gonna die.''

Raph snorted. ''Me? No way!'' He manoeuvred her so he could look at her face. ''I'd never leave you, ya know that.''

Cleo beamed at him, tears of joy replacing the ones of sadness in her eyes and she hugged him again, sending out a silent thank you to whoever had answered her wish. Somewhere, someone had heard her and, just like that night so long ago, had brought him back to her. They stayed locked in their embrace for what felt like hours, simply soaking up the relief and comfort from one another, until a movement on the floor caught their attention.

''Aw, man…'' Mikey grumbled sleepily, sitting up and rolling his neck. ''I gotta get a better pillow…''

''Uncle Mikey…''

Mikey scooted round to look in the direction of Cleo's voice, his tired face morphing into an expression of glee.

''RAPH!''

The youngest turtle shot to his feet and bounded over to the bed, scooping both Raphael and Cleo up into a huge bear hug. Raphael immediately protested as the embrace jostled his injuries but offered his little brother a good-natured smirk and gentle slap upside the back of the head when Mikey released him.

''I knew it, I knew you'd be okay!'' Mikey crowed with happiness. ''I told you, Cle,'' he said to the equally happy little girl sitting on her father's lap, ''I told you he'd be okay!''

Before Raph could say anything, the door to the bedroom was flung open and Donnie, Leo, April and Casey, holding a cooing Tommy, burst into the room. Upon seeing Raphael awake and sitting up in the bed, they quickly surrounded the bed and soon the room was filled with joyful shouts and excited chatter.

''I told you, I told you he'd be alright!'' Mikey declared triumphantly, seizing Donatello by the hands and whirling the protesting turtle around the room which sent Cleo into a fit of giggles while Raphael accepted a tender hug from April, shared a gentle high five with Casey and endured Leo's soft hand upon his shoulder, returning his older brother's fond gaze with a somewhat embarrassed yet sincere smile.

''You're going to need to rest up for a while though, Raph,'' Donnie said, finally breaking free of Mikey's grip and coming to stand by the side of the bed again. He began to poke and prod at Raphael who tiredly batted him away with a grimace. ''I'm serious, Raph.'' Donnie said in his strictest doctor voice. ''You've sustained some serious injuries, not to mention you've been unconscious for a prolonged amount of time. I'm going to let you get some more rest tonight but then I want to do a proper examination of you first thing in the morning.''

Raphael glared at him as Donnie bent down to look at his eyes and lifted the sheet to check his ankle which had been set and wrapped before moving his attention to the crack in Raphael's plastron. Cleo's peered worriedly at the fissure in Raph's body armour but Donatello offered her a reassuring smile. He gently touched the injured area and Raphael jolted away with a hiss of pain.

''Cut it out, Don!''

Donatello rolled his eyes but there was a good natured smirk on his face as he readjusted the sheet. He pointed a warning finger into Raph's face.

''Tomorrow. First thing.''

''Do I need an appointment card?'' Raph sneered but his mouth twitched with a smirk. Before Donnie could reply, there was a loud grumbling from Raphael's stomach.

''Are you hungry, bro?'' Mikey piped up, practically vibrating with his need to help. ''I'll get you some food, I made loads of food earlier so there's plenty left. Do you want a big plate or a little plate? I'll get you a big plate cos it'll hold more-you want a drink? Water or soda? I'll bring soda 'cos that's way better!''

Raphael could only chuckle as Mikey hurtled out of the room. Almost immediately, there was a crash from the kitchen.

''I'll go and help him before he causes any real damage,'' April sighed, giving Raphael another smile before leaving the room, followed by Casey who went to put Tommy back down for the night.

''We should contact Master Splinter and let him know that everything's alright,'' Donnie said to Leo who nodded and removed his hand from Raphael's shoulder after a soft squeeze.

''You didn't tell him, did ya?'' Raphael asked them as they headed for the door, his voice mortified.

''Of course we did,'' Leo said, turning to look at him. ''We didn't know if you were going to make it.''

Raph picked at the edge of the bed sheet. ''Yeah but…I'd hate knowin' his trip got ruined 'cos of me.''

Leo and Donnie shared a smile as they nearly always did when their emotionally guarded brother showed his softer side.

''Don't worry, Raph. Somehow I think the news that you're alright will help.''

Seeing Raphael's obvious discomfort from hearing such information, Leonardo turned to Cleo.

''Why don't you go and get your book that you've been refusing to read until he woke up?''

Cleo's face broke into a grin and she scrambled off the bed and hurried out of the room to fetch it. Raphael watched her go with a tiny smile before looking back to Leo.

''How badly was she affected by all this?''

''She had…flashbacks, I guess you'd call it, and pretty much refused to sleep until she was beyond exhausted.'' Leo said, hating the absolutely gutted expression on Raphael's face.

''About what?''

''About that night, about the lies Karai fed her about how she would make sure that at some point you would die,'' Leo said bitterly.

''She hasn't seen you injured like you were since then,'' Donnie explained gently, ''so it was bound to conjure up some bad memories.''

Raphael palmed his bruised face and let out a groan, trying to stem a strong surge of hatred that he had not felt since he had hurled his sai into Karai's throat.

''Just talk to her, Raph.'' Donnie suggested before leaping back as Mikey careened back into the room with a plate piled high with food, followed closely by Cleo carrying her book and a six pack of soda.

''Here you go, bro!'' Mikey said, placing the plate on his brother's lap. It was a monstrosity of a selection that even Raph balked at a little, but he was so hungry that he accepted the proffered fork from Mikey and began to dig in with gusto. There was a pop and a hiss as Cleo opened a soda can and took a hearty sip before holding it out to him with a grin. Raph groaned appreciatively and gulped the entire thing down in one go.

''Well, if the fact that he woke up wasn't evidence enough, this definitely is,'' Donnie chuckled before ushering Leo out of the room to contact their father, gesturing for Mikey to follow them. The youngest turtle gave Raphael another crushing hug before heading out of the room with a promise of more food.

''He already made me have three helpings today,'' Cleo informed him as she climbed back up onto the bed.

Raph snorted around a mouthful of noodles. He shovelled in a few more mouthfuls before sitting back to let it all go down, curling his arm around Cleo and pulling her closer.

''You know, kid, nothin' an' nobody will ever do anythin' bad to you, not while I'm here.''

Cleo shifted beside him. ''But what if you're not here?''

''Then the others will be there just like I would be,'' he promised her, bending his head to peer into her face. ''All the stuff that happened before…I still think 'bout it too, sometimes.''

''Really?''

He nodded. ''If you ever need to talk 'bout it, we can. But you need to remember that all the stuff she ever said was lies, an' that she can't hurt you ever again, okay?''

''Okay,'' Cleo mumbled and nestled her head into the crook of his neck.

''I really ain't goin' anywhere, squirt, I promise ya.''

Cleo's eyes roamed his face intently and he stared back just as seriously. It reminded him of all the times they had looked at one another in the beginning when they first met, when the unconditional love between them was new and blossoming, when he felt like her gaze was searching the very depths of his soul, just like it seemed to be now.

After a minute, Cleo seemed to be satisfied and bent forward to plant a kiss on a bruise free part of his cheek before opening the thick book to where her marker was. Instead of handing the book over for him to read, she leant back into his arm and propped it up on her knees.

''You readin' it to me?'' he asked, his eye ridges raised in surprise.

''You've not been well so I thought I'd read it this time then you can read it tomorrow,'' she said in a matter of fact voice, trailing her finger down to the right part of the page.

''Gotcha,'' he said and rested his head back against the pillow, eyes falling half shut as the sweetest voice in the world began to read to him.

''_Nothing but the shock of hearing that voice could have given Harry the strength to get up. Shivering violently, he staggered to his feet. There before him stood Ron-_I knew he'd come back!'' Cleo interrupted herself in delight, thrusting the book up so Raphael's sleepy gaze could see the words for himself.

He chuckled sleepily and cuddled closer to his little girl.

''Me too, kiddo.''

* * *

><p><em><strong>I'm a trainee teaching assistant and one of the kids in my class is currently reading Deathly Hallows to me for guided reading and we've just got past the scene where Ron returns, and the kid actually dropped the book in his excitement because he was so happy, it was extremely adorable. I just love the idea of Raph getting into Harry Potter just because his little girl likes it-I imagine he does all the voices in some ridiculous imitation of a British accent too ;D <strong>  
><em>

_**I also wanted to include something to do with the events that actually brought Cleo into his care in the first place, because there's no way he could be that seriously injured without it provoking such a reaction in Cleo and I thought it would also make sense that all the brothers would have had some sort of lingering or previous emotional issues too. I didn't include Splinter in this one purely because there was already so many people in the chapter I felt that I wouldn't really be able to do him real justice but I hope it's plausible and fits well enough within this chapter. Plus I always thought The Ancient One was a really cool guy so it was nice to give him a mention :D**_

_**I'm working on some more stuff at the moment but I'm quite busy at the moment so may not be up until after Christmas but obviously I'll try my best to get something up before. Thanks for reading, please review if you have the time!**_


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